Nigeria: A decade of terror for Catholic priests
New data highlights scale of priest kidnappings amid Nigeria’s security crisis
Between 2015 and 2025, at least 212 Catholic priests were kidnapped in Nigeria, in a wave of violence that affects the whole country. This is revealed by an ongoing study carried out by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria shared with the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
The research documents kidnappings in at least 41 of the country’s 59 Catholic dioceses and archdioceses. The data is consistent with the findings of ACN’s Religious Freedom Report 2025, which identifies Nigeria as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for clergy and religious leaders.
According to the document sent to ACN, of the 212 kidnapped, 183 were released or escaped, 12 were murdered and 3 later died as a result of trauma and injuries suffered during their captivity.
Currently, at least 4 kidnapped priests remain in captivity: Father John Bako Shekwolo, Father Pascal Bobbo, Father Emmanuel Ezema, and Father Joseph Igweagu. The report also confirms that at least six priests were kidnapped more than once, highlighting the persistent vulnerability of Catholic clergy.
However, the real number of cases is certainly higher. Data from 18 dioceses has not yet been submitted, and ACN has independently recorded isolated kidnapping cases during the last years in at least five other dioceses not covered in the study so far. In addition, the report does not include incidents involving religious orders and congregations.
Churches closed and Christian communities displaced
The diocese with the highest number of kidnappings in the report is Okigwe, with 47 cases, followed by Port Harcourt (14) and Nsukka (13). Several other dioceses also report particularly high figures, including Kaduna, Kafanchan and Nnewi, each with nine kidnappings.
In terms of fatalities, the Archdiocese of Kaduna has suffered the highest number of murdered priests in the past decade (four), followed by Kafanchan (two), Minna (two), and Abeokuta, Nnewi, Owerri and Sokoto (one each).
The impact of this violence has been devastating for local Christian communities. Entire villages have been displaced, parishes abandoned and pastoral life severely disrupted across wide areas of the country. In the Diocese of Minna alone, more than 90 churches have been forced to close due to sustained terrorist activity and chronic insecurity. Many priests were kidnapped directly from their rectories, while travelling for pastoral work, or on their way to celebrate Holy Mass.
Who is behind the violence? A complex reality
The violence devastating Nigeria does not affect Christians alone. Terrorism, armed banditry and kidnappings also claim the lives of many Muslims. However, in large parts of the country, Christians are subjected to targeted persecution because of their faith, particularly in regions dominated by jihadist groups and ethnic-religious militias.
According to ACN’s Religious Freedom Report 2025, in the north, the primary threat comes from jihadist terrorism, particularly from groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State –West Africa Province (ISWAP), whose stated goal is to impose a radical Islamist ideology. In central Nigeria, especially in the Middle Belt, violence is largely driven by systematic attacks carried out by Fulani militias, responsible for mass killings, forced displacement, destruction of predominantly Christian villages and the occupation of farmlands. Although these conflicts are sometimes presented as ethnic or economic in nature, in practice they overwhelmingly affect Christian communities and carry a religious dimension.
Added to this is persistent structural and institutional discrimination, which leaves many Christian communities in the north without effective protection from the State.
At the same time, a significant proportion of kidnappings in Nigeria are driven primarily by economic motives. Kidnapping has become a highly profitable criminal industry, used both to finance terrorist activity and to sustain networks of armed banditry. Clergy are frequent targets because they are easily identifiable, generally unprotected, and because their communities make extraordinary efforts to secure their release. In dioceses such as Okigwe — the most severely affected in the country — strategic transport routes, weak security presence, the proliferation of organised kidnapping gangs and intense rural pastoral activity all converge. As a result, priests have become highly vulnerable targets within a brutal “kidnapping economy” driven by ransom payments.
A nationwide security emergency
The total number of people kidnapped across Nigeria is, of course, far higher and affects many different sectors of society. The abduction of priests represents only one visible part of a much broader national kidnapping crisis.
In recent weeks, Nigeria has also seen a sharp increase in the mass abduction of schoolchildren from educational institutions, particularly in northern regions. In response to the escalating wave of kidnappings on schools, terrorist attacks and armed violence, Nigeria’s President declared a nationwide security emergency in November 2025, authorising the recruitment of 20,000 additional police officers and the deployment of extraordinary security measures across multiple states.
Yet for many local communities, the consequences of each kidnapping extend far beyond the statistics: when a priest disappears, an entire parish is left without protection, leadership or hope.
