(ZENIT News / Nigeria, 25.03.2025).- Two more Catholic priests were abducted over the weekend in Nigeria, aggravating a first quarter of the year, which has become nefarious in regard to the safety of God’s ministers. According to information gathered by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Father Stephen Echezona was kidnapped on Saturday, March 22, in the Akwa diocese, Ambara State, while at a gas station buying fuel. Just 24 hours later, the Owerri diocese announced the abduction of Father John Ubaechu, kidnapped while driving on a road of Imo. State.
With these two additional cases, the number of religious men kidnapped in Nigeria, since the beginning of 2025, rises to 12, two of whom – Father Sylvester Okechukwu and seminarian Andrew Peter – were murdered by their captors. In the same period in 2024, the total number of kidnapped religious was three, with no deaths. In 2023 there were two abductions with one murder, and in 2022 there were seven with one murder. This makes the first quarter of 2025 the worst since ACN began to compile data about kidnapped priests and seminarians, murdered or arrested worldwide. In addition to these 12 cases, there are still three priests, abducted in previous years, who have never been released or declared dead.
Some attacks against the clergy are motivated by aversion to. Christianity, but many of the abductions are carried out by criminals seeking money by demanding ransoms. It’s the case of two priests recently abducted in Yola. Seven of the 12 abductions registered up to now in 2025, have taken place in the South of the country, which is predominantly Christian, whereas the five remaining kidnappings happened in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, which is more unstable. Of the two murders, one took place in the South and the other in the Middle Belt.
The Nigerian Bishops have tirelessly requested the Authorities to improve the country’s security conditions for the good of all the people, constantly appealing to the faithful not to seek justice on their own. ACN echoes these appeals and confirms its commitment to support Nigeria’s suffering Church.
