Nigeria is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for Christians. In such perilous times, these believers need our prayers.
From LifeSiteNews. Two Nigerian priests have been abducted in what is, according to local reports, “the latest in the series of kidnappings and attacks targeting Christian institutions, clerics, and the faithful in Nigeria.”
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According to African news outlet Shalom World, “gunmen abducted two priests in the southern Nigerian Delta State. The Catholic priests Fr. Chochos Kunav and his colleague Fr. Raphael Ogigba was abducted on Saturday, April 30.”
The report states that “the kidnappers who took two Catholic priests hostage in the state are being sought after, according to the Delta State Police Command. DSP Bright Edafe, the state’s police public relations officer, confirmed the incident and stated that the command was on the trail of the kidnappers to free the victims. The clergy members were reportedly kidnapped on Saturday night while traveling to Ughelli on the Agbara-Otor road.” …
At the end of March, Agenzia Fides noted that the abduction of clergy and religious in Nigeria has increasingly become part of the Islamic persecution of Christians in the country. …
Corroborating the Islamic persecution of Nigerian Christians, Open Doors’ World Watch List 2023 (WWL) — which details annually the persecution of Christians through the world — says of the Christian persecution in Nigeria, “The violence is most pervasive in the north, where militant groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP and Fulani militants inflict murder, physical injury, abduction and sexual violence on their victims. Christians are dispossessed of their land and their means of livelihood. Many live as internally displaced people or refugees. … Violence and land grabbing are not limited to the north alone. Fulani militants have carried these practices into the southern regions, where communities, villages and other locations have been invaded.”
In its full report on Nigeria, WWL states, “A very specific form of violence against Christians are the raids on (often) small Christian communities (or villages) in the rural areas of various states. When a (mainly) Christian community is attacked, some of the residents are killed, others are (seriously) wounded and others are abducted. Often men and boys are killed, with women and girls being abducted. Many flee from their houses and fields. There is constant fear: When night falls, there is always the danger of possible attack, and anxiety about what might happen to oneself and one’s family.” …
Similarly, a report issued by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law on April 10 stated that “since [the] 2009 Islamic uprising, 52,250 Christians and 34,000 moderate Muslims have been butchered or hacked to death.” According to the report, these attacks and murders are being performed not only by terrorist groups but also by state supporters’ groups, including the Nigerian army. …
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(Excerpt from LifeSiteNews. Photo Credit: Canva)