Christians in Nigeria’s Auchi diocese have engaged in mass protests against the kidnapping and killing of priests, farmers, and market women in Edo state.
The protests started on March 25 with an online protest. On Wednesday, March 26, they engaged in a one-day mourning for ‘our fallen heroes,” and on March 27, the protests will end with a gathering in front of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Auchi, where a candlelight procession will be organized in honor of Father Christopher Odia and Brother Andrew Peter.
Father Christopher was kidnapped and murdered on June 26, 2022, while seminarian Andrew Peter was kidnapped on March 3rd and then killed.
Footage of the protests broadcast on the official website of the diocese shows Christians, including school kids, carrying placards with various messages inscribed on them: Brother Peter, rest in peace; stop the kidnapping; say no to ransom payments; Government, rise up to your responsibilities; enough of these killings; secure our priests.
Brother Peter was being buried March 26th at the priests’ cemetery at Ivianokpodi, even as protesting Christians were on the streets.
In his message during the burial, Most Rev. Dr. Gabriel Ghieakhomo Dunia, Bishop of Auchi Diocese, castigated those who have caused so much sorrow and pain.
“They have failed, and the Lord has conquered,” the cleric said.
“We gather to console our priests, religious, the seminarians, even our hunters who went to this vast forest and were able to find the body [of the Seminarian] which ordinarily would not have been found because this is not a small forest. And it’s not just the forest, it also has terrifying caves,” the cleric noted as he explained the hand of God in everything that happens to Christians in his diocese.
“This is part of our land. We are not afraid; we are not going to walk away from our land. We will stay here. This place will be more secure in times to come. They cannot terrify us into abandoning our land.”
He urged Christians to face every challenge with hope in the saving grace of God.
While the murder of the seminarian might have been the immediate spark for the peaceful protests, the kidnapping and killing of clergy and lay people alike have become alarming issues in the diocese.
“Life has been hell for our people in recent times. People are not safe on the roads, in their farms, or even in their homes,” said Bishop Gabriel Dunia in an earlier statement.
Bishop Dunia, in a separate statement signed by Fr. Peter Egielewa, the Director of Communication at the Diocese, “expresses sadness at the frequency at which priests in his diocese are attacked and kidnaped, and that the once peaceful Edo North of the state which houses the Diocese of Auchi has become a field of the absurd, where kidnappers come in at will and at regular intervals and kidnap people for ransom. It has become a business center for kidnappers, calling on the government to address these persistent security challenges in Edo North and other parts of Edo state.”
Across Nigeria, Christians have become a target of jihadist violence. Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa, and more recently, jihadist Fulani herdsmen have been the major perpetrators of the kidnappings and killings.
On March 22, Fr Stephen Echezona of the Diocese of Awka in Anambra state was abducted at a petrol station when he stopped to fuel his car. Barely 24 hours later, the Diocese of Owerri announced the kidnapping of Fr John Ubaechu, who was abducted while driving along a road in Imo state. Fr. Echezona has since been released, but Fr. Ubaechu is still being held by his captors.
The most recent statistics published by the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria indicate that 145 priests and seminarians have been kidnapped in Nigeria since 2015.11 of them were killed.
In 2023, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), a Nigerian-based research and investigative rights organization, released a report titled “Martyred Christians in Nigeria.”
The report stated that 52,250 Nigerian Christians had been murdered in Nigeria since 2009. 18,000 churches and 2,200 schools had been destroyed during this period. Millions have been displaced.
According to the Pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need, Nigeria is where over 80% of all reported cases of murder, kidnapping, or unjust arrest involving Catholic priests and religious figures in 2025. The charity notes that it has documented 15 new incidents worldwide, 12 of which are kidnappings occurring in Nigeria.
Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi Diocese in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, on a visit to the UK, told British parliamentarians that Christians in Nigeria were facing the possibility of extermination.
“The militant Fulani herdsmen bear on defenseless villagers without consequence,” the cleric told the parliamentarians. “They follow orders to conquer, kill, and occupy. They attack even those who have managed to escape into our IDP camps.”
Emeka Umeagbalasi, the board chair of the Catholic-inspired NGO, International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, told CWR he was apprehensive that with the current rates of violence in Nigeria, Christianity could be headed for annihilation in Africa’s most populous nation. And he draws from historical experiences elsewhere to shore up his point.
“Turkey today is predominantly Muslim, with approximately 98–99% of its population identifying as such. Historically, during the time of the Byzantine Empire, the region that is now Turkey was a center of Christianity. Many significant Christian structures, such as cathedrals and churches, were built during this period, reflecting the region’s rich Christian heritage,” he told CWR.
“Over time, with the rise of the Ottoman Empire and the spread of Islam, many of these Christian sites were repurposed as mosques or Islamic centers. These changes reflect the evolving religious and cultural dynamics of the region. Today, visitors to Turkey can still see magnificent historical edifices that bear witness to its diverse past.
Similarly, in other regions, such as Syria and parts of Africa, including Sudan and Egypt, historical Christian communities have left a lasting legacy. For example, Asyut in Egypt is one of the oldest Christian communities in Africa. Christianity is believed to have reached Asyut shortly after the death of Christ, and the Hanging Church of Asyut, built around AD 60, stands as a testament to this early Christian presence.”
He said many Christians in all these cases were either forced to convert to Islam. They were killed or chased out of their homes, and their properties and lands were taken.
“And that is exactly what is happening in Nigeria,” he told CWR.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Killings, kidnappings and enslavements of Christians by the religion of peace have been going on for centuries. The Vatican’s silence is deafening. Please see these scholarly exposes on Christian Slavery under Islam published in CWR and in the Postil:
https://www.thepostil.com/author/dario-fernandez-morera/
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2020/12/16/the-forgotten-history-of-christian-slavery-under-islam/
Why did North Africa, the home of Augustine, Athanasius, and Cyril of Alexandria become a stronghold of Islam? How many billions of people have been lost to Islam in that region over the past 1,300 years? Dare I pose the question, “Is the blood of martyrs the truly seed of the Church?” I don’t think we should be afraid to respectfully approach the Lord with this question. What does the conquest of Christian North Africa say to us today as Catholics? Emeka Umeagbalasi is right that Christian communities are again facing annihilation. I think the current Islamic persecution of Christians is the existential threat to the Church in our day. The powers that be in the Church must focus on their plight rather than on the banalities of synodality. Please intercede for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. May Jesus show us how to help and protect them.
Our Church presence in Nigeria is where the faithful put their faith where their mouth is. What they proclaim on Sundays in the Credo they live and die for in their love for Christ. What else would risk martyrdom? A genuine martyrdom forged in spiritual steel. They pray for their murderers.
These are men and women who aren’t struggling with questions of the faith, spending hours developing argumentation, days and months writing books. Of course there’s value in that too, although Nigeria is where the truths they seek to express on paper are written in blood. Islam will be ridden from this world by conversion to Christ and by the flames of his second Advent. The middle presence while we’re in this world keeps us as his own.
OK, it’s long past time to re-evaluate the Catholic Church’s lack of a military and our inability to physically stop the persecution of our brothers and sisters across the world.
Although I can’t picture this Pope actually commanding a military force, I can’t really picture him doing a lot of things certain Popes in ages past did.