“We can confirm”: Nigerian Catholic Diocese on Viral Video Featuring Kidnapped Minor Seminarians with Their Captors

Fr. Egielewa also shares the message of the Local Ordinary of Auchi Diocese following the viral video.

“As the chief shepherd of the Diocese, I feel personally hurt and disturbed that my seminarians, our children, are living with armed strangers for 35 days now. I find it difficult to sleep these days because of this. We have been praying since their kidnapping, and again I call on people everywhere to please pray with us,” Bishop Gabriel Ghiakhomo Dunia has been quoted as saying.

Bishop Dunia calls on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and all security agencies in the country to “do the needful and help rescue our children from the hands of the kidnappers.”

Nigeria has been experiencing insecurity since 2009, when the Boko Haram insurgency began with the aim of turning the country into an Islamic State.

Since then, the group, one of the largest Islamist groups in Africa, has been orchestrating indiscriminate terrorist attacks on various targets, including religious and political groups as well as civilians.

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The insecurity situation in the country has further been complicated by the involvement of the predominantly Muslim Fulani herdsmen, also referred to as the Fulani Militia.

Members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) have repeatedly denounced the reported killings and abductions in the West African nation and challenged the government to prioritize the safeguarding of human life.

In his August 14 statement, Fr. Egielewa says, “Coincidentally, since the minor seminary attack, there have been several kidnapping cases in Edo North in particular and Edo State. It appears kidnappers in Nigeria have suddenly found a convenient place of operation in Edo North and Edo state.”

He continues, “Our people feel frustrated and helpless. We are deeply worried about how this abnormality has become normal, and it appears our people are just left on their own to continue to live in such an environment of perpetual fear and terror. It shouldn’t be.”

“We beg that Edo North be secured so that our people can once again live in peace and safety,” the Director of Communications of Auchi Diocese says.