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Civil Rights Advocacy Group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has tasked the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies to forensically investigate if there is a well-funded, well-coordinated and well-motivated freelance armed killers hired to kill Catholic priests and Seminarians in Nigeria.
HURIWA also described as absolutely condemnable, despicable, reprehensible and absolutely unforgiveable, the dastardly cruel killing of a Catholic Priest of the Kafanchan Catholic Diocese, Reverend Father Sylvester Okechukwu who was kidnapped from the parish rectory in Kaura local government Area and murdered cruelly in broad daylight on Wednesday March 5th 2025.
HURIWA in a media statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, expressed shock that the seemingly properly executed armed kidnappings of Catholic Priests and Seminarians in the past two weeks, represents an unprecedented threat to the constitutionally guaranteed right to life, right to freedom of religion and therefore it is our suspicion that perhaps some evil-minded religious extremists of the other belief-system may be behind this trajectory of heightened cases of violent attacks of Catholic Churches all across the Country.
HURIWA recalled that between February 22nd and 5th March today, 4 priests and a Seminarian have been kidnapped in Nigeria and one of the priests has just been confirmed killed by the kidnappers in Kafanchan, Southern Kaduna State.
“We in this pro-democracy organisation, HURIWA, agrees with the conclusion that this ugly and deadly trend is not only worrisome but also heartbreaking, especially for Catholic priests, just as it is a stark reality that the safety of these clerics is seemingly not guaranteed again.”
“This is why we are calling on the DSS, the Police Intelligence bureau, the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps, to wake up from slumber and investigate this new trend of targeted kidnappings of mostly Catholic priests even as we hereby urge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that if there is a secret plot by some Islamic extremists to eliminate Catholic priests, then these persons sponsoring these coordinated attacks should be rounded up immediately and prosecuted professionally just as they should be kept away in detentions for the remaining durations of their miserable life. This trend of targeted attacks of Catholic priests must be checked and eradicated.”
HURIWA regretted that the persistent, unrelenting and well-funded attacks on priests continued on Saturday night 22nd of February, 2025, when Rev. Fr. Matthew David Dutsemi of Yola Diocese, and Rev. Fr. Abraham Sauman of Jalingo Diocese were kidnapped in the Priest’s Rectory on Gwedda Mallam, Demsa LGA of Adamawa State.
In a similar incident, armed men invaded the Priest’s Rectory of St. Peter Catholic Church Iviukhua-Agenebode, Etsako East LGA of Edo State on Monday, 3rd March, 2025 and abducted Rev. Fr. Phillip Ekweli, together with the Seminarian working with him and for days, there has been no communication or confirmation about their situation.
HURIWA recalled that on the night of 4th, March, 2025, Rev. Fr. Sylvester Okechukwu of Kafanchan Diocese, who had previously survived a kidnapping was again abducted in the Priest’s Rectory of St. Mary Catholic Church Tachira, Kaura LGA of Kaduna State. Reverend Father Okechukwu has been confirmed dead in the hands of his captors.
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