Priest kidnapping in Nigeria seen as part of attack on ‘soft targets’ of Christians

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Nigerian police have arrested two men suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of Father Thomas Oyode, Rector of the Immaculate Conception Junior Seminary in Auchi Diocese in Edo State, in the country’s embattled south-central region.

Edo State Commissioner of Police, Umoru Ozigi, while presenting the suspects to the media on October 30, said the suspects helped the police track down their accomplices.

He called on the public to voluntarily provide any information that could lead to the arrest of criminals in an area where lawbreakers abound.

According to a statement by the Director of Communications for the diocese, Father Peter Egielewa, Oyode was abducted during vespers and blessing at the seminary at around 7pm on Sunday evening.

He said the kidnappers initially took two theology students away, but the rector asked the kidnappers to release the students and take him instead.

“The Rector of the institution, Rev. Fr. Thomas Oyode was kidnapped and taken to the bush. However, the names of the Vice-Rector and all the seminary students were taken, they were secured and temporarily transferred to a secure area until security measures around the seminary were tightened. Unfortunately, no contact has been made with the kidnappers yet,” Egielewa said.

Unconfirmed reports say the kidnappers demanded a ransom of approximately $122,000. turning point‘s attempts to obtain approval from the diocese went unanswered.

The recent abduction case highlights the growing threat to clergy and religious individuals who are often considered “soft targets” in Nigeria.

More than 150,000 religiously motivated civilian deaths have been recorded in Nigeria since 2009, according to a report by the International Association for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, known as “Intersocietal.”

The report, published on February 14, states that approximately 14 million Christians have been displaced and forced to leave their homes since 2009, and more than 800 Christian communities have been attacked.

Intersociety Director Emeka Umeagbalassi said: turning point It is stated that the targeting of Catholic clergy and Christians is part of a larger plan to Islamize the country.

He accused the federal government of bias against Christians and called it “a wing of the Fulani killers”, a reference to the predominantly Muslim ethnic group widely dispersed across West Africa, including Nigeria.

“There are many butcheries, kidnappings and disappearances taking place in the country and security agencies are also complicit in these crimes,” Emeka said.

Archbishop of Abuja, Ignatius Kaigama, has said security agencies are “shameful” over the continued killing and abduction of Christians.

“Our nation continues to be plagued by rising insecurity. Boko Haram insurgents, herdsmen militias, bandits, kidnappers and so-called ‘unknown gunmen’ continue to spread terror in various regions,” Kaigama said. turning point.

He directly accused the federal government of failing to protect the public, stating that the federal government had now lost the capacity to control perpetrators of violence who were terrorizing people in different parts of the country at will.

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on the federal government to take stricter action against attacks on priests, pastors and moderate Muslims who are increasingly falling prey to kidnappers, terrorists, bandits and Fulani herdsmen.

Last year, outspoken Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto Diocese said his diocese spent more than $37,200 to secure the release of pastoral agents.

“There are real fears that these abductions are leading to targeted persecution of the Christian faith, but financial reasons appear to overshadow these concerns,” HURIWA said in a report last year.

The report stated that the government’s failure to address the kidnappings and killings of priests had encouraged other criminals to commit similar acts.

Franklyne Ogbunwezeh, senior researcher on Sub-Saharan Africa at the International Christian Solidarity Organization, says criminal gangs may be driven by money to kidnap clerics, but jihadist elements have a different goal: to establish an Islamic caliphate by uprooting Christians from their own communities. In the Middle Belt of Nigeria.

“They kidnap and kill Christian leaders who hold high esteem in their communities, sometimes even after ransoms have been paid. “This separates society from its center and facilitates the destruction of Christian communities,” he said.