Two religious sisters, Vincentia Nwankwo and Grace Okoli, were abducted last Tuesday, 7 January in Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria. They belong to the congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Mother of Christ, which has appealed to all the faithful, through a statement sent to Aid to the Church in Need International, to pray for their “unconditional release.”
Sister Vincentia María, the principal of Archbishop Charles Heerey Memorial Model Secondary School Ufuma, and Sister Grace Mariette, a teacher at Immaculata Girls Model Secondary School Nnewi, were intercepted on the Ufuma road after attending a meeting in Ogboji, a town located in the Aguata Local Government Area, according to the congregation’s secretary-general, Sister Maria Sobenna Ikeotuonye.
Although not officially confirmed, it is presumed that the abductors are local armed criminal gangs, commonly known as kidnapping gangs, operating in the region. These groups seek financial gain through ransoms and have intensified their activities in southeastern Nigeria, exploiting the prevailing insecurity.
Faced with this new act of violence against the Catholic Church in Nigeria, Sister Ikeotuonye expressed her deep sadness and called for the “powerful intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary for their speedy release”.
“We solicit your fervent prayers and supplications to God that they may be released as soon as possible and come back to us safe and sound. Pray also that they may be released unconditionally,” writes Sister Maria Sobenna Ikeotuonye.
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is evenly split between Christians and Muslims, and over the past decades, had been experiencing a growing wave of violence against the Christian community. In 2024, according to research by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), 11 priests were abducted in the country, and three have been missing for several years. One priest was killed at the end of the year. In 2023, a total of 25 priests, seminarians and religious were kidnapped in Nigeria, one of whom was later killed. A further three priests were murdered in the country in the same year.
By Maria Lozano.
