The New Year has not begun peacefully in Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Kontagora. Just as the final days of 2025 were marked by violence and fear, early January 2026 has brought fresh bloodshed, including the massacre of 42 men in the village of Kasuwan Daji, not far from Papiri, where more than 200 schoolchildren were …
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Despite several attacks and one attempted murder, Tobias Yahaya and his family decided to remain in Sokoto to carry out his ministry of service to the Church. At around 3 a.m. on April 19, 2023, the security fence around Tobias Yahaya’s home, near Holy Family Cathedral in Sokoto, Northwest Nigeria, was breached by three armed …
Continue reading “Nigeria: catechist forgives man who tried to kill him over his ministry”
Catholic Bishops of Nigeria warn of escalating violence and call for urgent action to protect life and religious freedom (Cover Photo, archive: displaced women by the violence in Nigeria, 2023.) Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) echoes the urgent appeal of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), which warns of the deepening security …
Continue reading “Nigerian Bishops: “Lasting peace cannot be achieved through silence or delay””
The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora has reported a violent overnight attack on St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Niger State, Nigeria, resulting in “the kidnapping of pupils, students, teachers, and school personnel, as well as a security guard who was badly shot.” According to the statement sent to Aid to the Church …
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The attack represents “a major blow to the education of young girls, which is already quite rare in these parts of the country,” say local sources. The abduction of around 25 students from the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, in Nigeria’s north-western state of Kebbi, has plunged the community into deep shock. A …
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The West African nation has been classified as suffering from severe, systematic and ongoing religious freedom violations. (Cover image: AI-generated image for illustrative purposes only). Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has received an official communication from the Archdiocese of Kaduna, Nigeria, reporting the abduction of a priest following a violent attack on the …
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On Monday, August 11, women and children in Benue State, Nigeria, blocked a road in protest at the lack of security after their besieged town fell victim to yet another fatal attack. Three people were killed, and three others were critically injured in Yelewata, Benue State, on Monday, at around 8 a.m. The town, which …
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MY EXPERIENCE OF CAPTIVITY I was driving from Mubi (Adamawa State, Nigeria) to Maiduguri (Borno State) for a JDPC workshop on June 1st, 2025, alongside 2 other staff who were attending the same workshop. 3 hours into the journey, shortly after the military checkpoint at Limankara, we ran into an explosive. Immediately after the explosive, …
Supporting 76 African seminarians Nigeria is a dangerous country for Christians, and especially for priests. Over the past 10 years, more than 150 priests have been abducted and over a dozen killed. And yet the number of vocations has not declined. In fact, it is increasing, with many young men wishing to become a diocesan …
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International joyfully announces the release of Father Alphonsus Afina, a priest of the Diocese of Maiduguri, Nigeria, who had been abducted on June 1, 2025 by armed militants and spent 51 days in captivity. His release, along with that of the ten women who were also held captive, …
