A priest and a seminarian kidnapped in Nigeria’s Middle Belt have been released after three weeks in captivity.
Fr Paul Sanogo and Brother Melchior Mahinini, of the Missionaries of Africa (also known as the White Fathers), were abducted from their parish residence by criminals on August 2 in Minna diocese, Niger state, and were released on August 23.
In a statement seen by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Far Dennis Dashong Pam, provincial superior of the Missionaries of Africa in Ghana-Nigeria, wrote: “They are both fine, alive and healthy, despite the traumatising experience they went through in the hands of their abductors.
“I am very happy, and just like many of our confreres, we feel relieved.
“We have been thinking very much about their families who have been unable to sleep – it has been three weeks.”
Fr Pam added: “Their release is a confirmation of your fervent prayers and support.”
He expressed gratitude to diocesan authorities for providing “the right advice, strategies and logistics”.
He concluded: “We pray for the conversion of those who continue to think that the easiest way to make money is by hurting others.”
So far this year, 13 clergymen have been taken captive in Nigeria and later freed, but three priests kidnapped in previous years are still missing and two others were murdered, according to official data obtained by ACN.
Between January 2021 and June 2022, more than 7,600 Nigerian Christians were killed and 5,200 kidnapped, according to the findings of ACN’s 2022 Persecuted and Forgotten? – A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith.
In 2022, Nigeria ranked sixth in the Global Terrorism Index and was placed 143rd out of 163 countries in the Global Peace Index.
Megan Meador, Communications Officer for the faith-based legal advocacy organization, Alliance Defending Freedom International, said the past 20 years have been marked by a decreasing trend of religious tolerance in Nigeria, particularly in the North – and the country has gained notoriety as the world’s worst persecutor of Christians.
Of the Christians who were killed last year because of their faith, 90 per cent were Nigerian, she said.
According to an April report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), an NGO headquartered in Eastern Nigeria, at least 52,250 people have been killed over the last 14 years in Nigeria because they were Christian.
“There are more Christian martyrs in Nigeria than anywhere else on earth. Ninety percent of Christians who have been killed for their faith over the last year have been murdered in Nigeria,” Meador told Crux.
“The persecution comes from terrorists, from machete-wielding militias, from mob violence and laws that implicitly encourage them, and from authorities who are indifferent to the mayhem and shrug off these atrocities, allowing perpetrators to go free while punishing victims.”
Nigeria’s Constitution explicitly forbids the federal and state governments from establishing a state religion, forbids religious prejudice, and guarantees people’s right to freely choose, practice, spread, or modify their faith.
Meador admits that the Constitution at face value “provides strong protection for religious freedom, equal to that provided under international law. But when states implement criminal Sharia law, it clearly goes beyond the constitution and leads to tragic results.”
“We’ve had cases where Christians have been hauled in front of Sharia courts, without jurisdiction, and accused of crimes like apostasy, which is not supposed to be a crime in Nigeria,” she said.
“We are right now supporting a Sufi Muslim young singer, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who was sentenced to death on blasphemy accusations for posting lyrics to social media, and is now challenging that law at the Supreme Court. Nigeria needs to fully practice what is protected under its Constitution,” Meador said.
Meador said her organisation has been supporting religious freedom cases in Nigeria for years.
They include Christians facing attacks, false accusations, and discrimination, and religious minorities wishing to express their beliefs freely without fear of blasphemy laws and accusations.
She said: “The allied lawyers we work with are incredible, dedicated, and tireless defenders of the fundamental right to religious freedom, and we have been supporting the growth of more lawyers to protect more individuals.
“We also have been working at the highest levels of governments and international institutions so that they are aware of the depth of the persecution and to encourage them to take greater action.”
She said: “We want every victim to have recourse to justice, and want to see broader changes in laws and policies to stop the further victimization of Christians in Nigeria.”
There should be outcry “from every corner of the globe over what’s happening to Christians in Nigeria, but there too often isn’t”, she added
Additional reporting by Ngala Killian Chimtom in Cameroon
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