GUNMEN have abducted a Catholic priest from his residence, the latest in a wave of kidnappings that has left more than 250 schoolchildren in captivity and exposed the limits of Nigeria’s emergency response despite government declarations of a national security crisis.
Father. Emmanuel Ezema was seized from his residence at St. Peter’s Catholic Church Rumi, and Father Isek Augustine, Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Zaria, has appealed for prayers for the priest’s safe return.
The abduction comes as parents endure an agonising two-week wait for news of their children, who were taken when gunmen stormed a Catholic boarding school in the early morning hours of November 21. Armed raiders captured more than 300 students and staff, though 50 children managed to escape. More than 250 remain in captivity.
Many parents have expressed frustration that authorities are not treating their children’s rescue as an emergency, despite assurances from security forces that efforts are underway.
The mass school kidnapping ranks as one of the worst such raids since Boko Haram’s 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, an incident that drew international outrage and spawned the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
The priest’s kidnapping marks the second attack on Catholic clergy in northern Nigeria within three weeks. On November 17, Fr. Bobbo Paschal was abducted during a raid on St. Stephen Parish in Kaduna Catholic Archdiocese that left multiple people kidnapped and one man — the brother of Fr. Anthony Yero — dead. Fr. Paschal’s fate remains unknown, though the Archdiocese denied social media reports claiming he had been killed.
The escalating violence has laid bare the persistent security challenges facing Nigeria despite President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a national emergency and orders to recruit additional security personnel and deploy considerable resources to combat the crisis.
Mass abductions of schoolchildren have become alarmingly common in the West African nation, which faces threats from multiple armed groups, including criminal gangs specialising in kidnappings for ransom. Since 2014, at least a dozen mass abductions of school students have occurred, with at least 1,799 students kidnapped, according to an Associated Press tally. Some victims are never rescued.
Nigeria has grappled with overlapping insurgencies and criminal enterprises since 2009, when Boko Haram launched its campaign to establish an Islamic state in Africa’s most populous nation. The security landscape has grown increasingly complex with the involvement of predominantly Muslim Fulani herdsmen, often referred to as Fulani Militia, whose activities have compounded instability across many regions.
“We call on all men and women of goodwill to pray for the safe and quick release of our priest and others from the hands of their abductors,” Fr. Isek said in his statement, referencing both Fr. Ezema and the numerous other kidnapping victims awaiting rescue.
The Catholic Church has not disclosed whether ransom demands have been made for any of the abducted clergy members.
