Gunmen Abduct Catholic Priest in Early Morning Attack

Gunmen Abduct Catholic Priest in Early Morning Attack

In the early hours of Friday, July 11, suspected armed bandits abducted a Catholic priest, Sunday Musa, in the remote community of Samunaka, near Babanna in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.

Reports from counterinsurgency publication Zagazola Makama indicate that the gunmen, numbering around 20, stormed the village at approximately 4:00 am, firing shots before taking the priest away to an unknown destination.

The Niger State Police Command confirmed the incident, stating that a distress call was received from the officer in charge of the Babanna police outpost. In response, tactical police units and local vigilantes were immediately deployed in pursuit of the attackers. Security patrols have since been intensified across vulnerable communities along the Babanna–Borgu axis, as efforts continue to locate and rescue the abducted cleric.

The kidnapping of Sunday Musa marks yet another troubling case in a growing pattern of violence targeting Catholic clergy across Nigeria. In recent months, similar incidents have been reported in several other states.

On March 23, Rev. Fr. John Ubaechu, parish priest of Holy Family Catholic Church in Izombe, Imo State, was abducted while en route to a priests’ retreat. Earlier that month, on March 1, gunmen kidnapped Rev. Fr. Philip Ekeli and seminarian Peter Andrew from St. Peter Catholic Church in Iviukwa, Edo State.

In Kaduna State, tragedy struck when Rev. Fr. Sylvester Okechukwu of the Diocese of Kafanchan was kidnapped from his home on March 4 and killed the following morning, according to the diocese’s chancellor, Jacob Shanet.