2023-05-27 23:32:00
May 27, 2023 / 4:32 p.m
The Archdiocese of Owerri, in Nigeria, has requested prayers for the release of Fr. Matthias Opara, parish priest of Holy Ghost Obosima, who was kidnapped on Friday May 26 as he was returning from celebrating Mass.
In a statement shared hours after the kidnapping with ACI Africa – the ACI Group’s Africa agency – Fr. Patrick Mbarah, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Nigeria, gave details about the kidnapping.
“He was kidnapped on the Ejemekwuru-Izombe highway when he was returning from a funeral,” said the priest.
The Archdiocese of Nigeria requests prayers so that Fr. Opara, ordained a priest on July 14, 1990, “may be released unharmed,” it added.
The kidnapping in the Ohaji/Egbema local government area of Imo state is the latest in a series of kidnappings that have targeted clergy in Africa’s most populous nation.
On May 19, Fr. Jude Kingsley Maduka, a Nigerian Catholic priest serving in the Okigwe diocese, was kidnapped and released after three days in captivity.
Fr. Chochos Kunav and Fr. Raphael Ogigba, who had been kidnapped on April 29 in the Diocese of Warri, were released on May 4.
Previously, on April 15, Fr. Michael Ifeanyi Asomugha, a priest of the parish of Saint Paul Osu in the Diocese of Okigwe, was kidnapped and later released.
The West African nation has been battling a wave of violence orchestrated by gangs, whose members carry out indiscriminate attacks, kidnapping for ransom and, in some cases, murder.
The country has lived since 2009 the insurgency of Boko Haram, a group that supposedly intends to turn it into an Islamic nation.
Translated and adapted by Diego López Marina. Originally posted on ICA Africa.
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