VATICAN (CNS): Four Catholic nuns of the Sisters of Jesus the Saviour were kidnapped in southeast Nigeria on August 21 while travelling to a Mass in a nearby state.
The four are Sister Johannes Nwodo, Sister Christabel Echemazu, Sister Liberata Mbamalu and Sister Benita Agu, according to Fides.
The Nigerian congregation has more than 160 members, with formation houses in River and Abia states.
Sister Zita Ihedoro, secretary-general of the congregation, said the four nuns were abducted while travelling from Rivers state to Imo state for a thanksgiving Mass. She asked for prayers “for their quick and safe release.”
Kidnappings for ransom have been common in northwestern Nigeria, but are starting to spread to other areas of the country.
National Public Radio in the US reported that in June 2021 alone, about 45 people per day were kidnapped for ransom in Nigeria.
In May, Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso of Kaduna, vice president of the Nigerian Bishops’ Conference, told an online forum: “Banditry has taken a new dimension in the last three to four years as bandits now use sophisticated weapons to massively destroy villages and their properties, kidnapping for ransom during the day time and at night.”
Archbishop Ndagoso blamed the country’s porous borders for the importation of increasingly sophisticated weapons that fuel growing insecurity. He also called on the government to control how arms and ammunition were being imported and to prosecute those found to illegally possess arms and ammunition.
