“They beat me, but I thank God I survived,” says priest kidnapped by jihadists
A Catholic priest has given a harrowing account of how he nearly lost an eye after being kidnapped by armed extremists in Nigeria and held captive for 51 days.
Father Alphonsus Afina was kidnapped by Islamist terrorists from Boko Haram on 1 June 2025. He was viciously beaten, his belongings stolen and car torched before being held captive with other survivors in a remote mountain area. The priest was finally released on 21 July when he returned to his diocese in Maiduguri to receive medical care.
Sharing his story with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Fr Afina said he was on his way to a workshop driving from Mubi to Maiduguri with two staff members when they passed a military checkpoint at Limankara. Minutes later they drove by an explosive and heard gunshots. He said: “Armed men came out of the roadside bushes shooting at us. In the confusion of the moment, I abandoned my vehicle and ran.”
The priest saw buses abandoned in the road, and people running in all directions as he and his staff ran back towards the checkpoint. “Other vehicles who were far behind us made a u-turn and drove back into gunfire between the military and the armed men. The armed men came after us riding motorcycles. They approached me and told me to stop, pointing a gun at me. I stopped and raised my hands up in surrender”, he added.
The jihadists took his two phones and made him unlock them. They also took possession of his watch and cash. Ordered to sit between two armed men on motorbikes the extremists drove him back to his car which they looted – stealing all luggage including a Mass box, missal and three laptops and their accessories belonging to the Church.
“The men started beating me, and as a result, I sustained an eye injury with blood dripping from my face into my eye and running down my shoulder. My eye was swollen and discharged liquid for three weeks.”
They forced him into his car, and then the convoy, including three other vehicles full of captives, drove into the bush. At the foot of the Gwoza mountain there was another gun battle between the jihadists and Nigerian soldiers. Armed men forced Fr Afina and their 13 other captives out of the cars and set the vehicles on fire before taking survivors on foot up the mountain. Fr Afina recalls: “That day 14 of us were taken captive. Others escaped, while others were killed – one of our staff were among those killed.” While in captivity he slept in a room with four other captives with armed men on guard.
“Three weeks into my captivity, there was a military operation with airstrikes and artillery bombardment on the location where we were being held. Ever since, I found it difficult to sleep because of the fear of being killed. This is still the situation as I write of this.”
Following his release on 21 July, Maiduguri Diocese representatives took him to hospital. Besides being placed on medication for various ailments, he is also waiting for surgery for his eye injury.
He extends his gratitude to all who had prayed for, or worked for, his release, adding “I felt the effects of the prayers offered for me all over the world in the way the armed men – Jama’at Ahl Sunna li Da’awa wal Jihad [Boko Haram] – treated me subsequently. I am, above all, grateful to God for sparing my life through this frightening experience.”
ACN has been supporting the Church in this region, helping with pastoral work, trauma healing and rebuilding of communities devastated by persecution.
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