ABUJA, Nigeria — A Catholic priest was kidnapped on Tuesday evening in Kaduna state, Nigeria, the place Fulani herdsmen and different Islamic extremist terrorists have been lively. His corpse was discovered the following day, sources mentioned.
The Rev. Sylvester Okechukwu, priest of St. Mary Catholic Church in Tachira, Kaura County, was kidnapped from his house by unknown assailants shortly after 9 p.m. and later killed, in keeping with the Kafanchan Diocese. He was 45.
“Kidnappers picked him up from the rectory yesterday, March 4th, previous 9 p.m., and his lifeless physique was discovered as we speak, Ash Wednesday early morning,” space priest Williams Abba instructed Christian Every day Worldwide–Morning Star Information in a textual content message. “What a day and method to die! He had his ashes prepared and was going to mark the foreheads of parishioners to remind them that they’re mud and to mud they may return. This morning, his life was minimize quick and he has develop into mud earlier than us.”
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The violent nature of his loss of life was akin to that suffered by Christ, he mentioned.
“Fr. Sylvester was with out reproach. He was variety, easygoing, extraordinarily hard-working and was a jolly good fellow. He liked the priesthood,” Abba mentioned. “As we mourn the loss of life of this martyr, we ask the great Lord to grant him everlasting relaxation and produce peace to us and the church.”
Abba mentioned Sylvester was a former scholar of his for 4 years.
“By no means cheeky, by no means mischievous, humble and devoted servant of God,” he mentioned. “He was pastor of a newly created parish in Takad Chiefdom, Kaura Native Authorities Space, an area authorities that has develop into infamous for kidnappings for ransom and acts of brigandage.”
The chancellor within the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan, the Rev. Jacob Shanet, mentioned in a press assertion that the brutal loss had left the church heartbroken and devastated.
“Fr. Sylvester was a devoted servant of God who labored selflessly within the winery of the Lord, spreading the message of peace, love and hope,” Shanet mentioned. “He was at all times obtainable and accessible to his parishioners. His premature loss of life has left an indelible void inside our diocesan household, and we share within the ache of his passing together with his household, pals and all those that knew and liked him.”
Nigeria has remained among the many most harmful locations on Earth for Christians, in keeping with Open Doorways’ 2025 World Watch Listing of the nations the place it’s most tough to be a Christian. Of the 4,476 Christians killed for his or her religion worldwide through the reporting interval, 3,100 (69%) had been in Nigeria, in keeping with the WWL.
“The measure of anti-Christian violence within the nation is already on the most potential underneath World Watch Listing methodology,” the report said.
Within the nation’s northcentral zone, the place Christians are extra frequent than they’re within the northeast and northwest, Islamic extremist Fulani militia assault farming communities, killing many a whole bunch, Christians above all, in keeping with the report. Jihadist teams equivalent to Boko Haram and the splinter group Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), amongst others, are additionally lively within the nation’s northern states, the place federal authorities management is scant and Christians and their communities proceed to be the targets of raids, sexual violence, and roadblock killings, in keeping with the report. Abductions for ransom have elevated significantly lately.
The violence has unfold to southern states, and a brand new jihadist terror group, Lakurawa, has emerged within the northwest, armed with superior weaponry and a radical Islamist agenda, the WWL famous. Lakurawa is affiliated with the expansionist al-Qaeda insurgency Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, originating in Mali.
Nigeria ranked seventh on the most recent World Watch Listing of the 50 most harmful nations to dwell as a Christian.
Kaduna state has been topic to fixed assaults by Fulani herdsmen lately. Numbering within the tens of millions throughout Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise a whole bunch of clans of many alternative lineages who don’t maintain extremist views, however some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the UK’s All-Occasion Parliamentary Group for Worldwide Freedom or Perception (APPG) famous in a 2020 report.
“They undertake a comparable technique to Boko Haram and ISWAP and exhibit a transparent intent to focus on Christians and potent symbols of Christian id,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have mentioned they consider herdsmen assaults on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Center Belt have been impressed by their need to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it tough for them to maintain their herds.
This text was initially revealed at Christian Every day Worldwide–Morning Star Information
