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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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 …
IDPs burned alive, shot dead and macheted Militants massacred up to 200 Christians in Nigeria’s Benue State on the night of Friday, June 13, targeting displaced families, setting fire to their buildings as they lay asleep inside and macheting anyone who tried to flee. The IDP families were in buildings repurposed as temporary accommodation in …
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Father Alphonsus Afina was kidnapped on Sunday, June 1, in the Diocese of Maiduguri. The auxiliary bishop of Maiduguri, Nigeria, has called for urgent prayers for one of his priests who was kidnapped by jihadist terrorists. In a message sent to Aid to the Church in Need – International (ACN), Bishop John Bogna Bakeni said …
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Dozens Killed, Priests Targeted, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt A series of brutal attacks on communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt have left at least 36 people dead, with several others injured or abducted, according to reports received by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) from the Diocese of Makurdi. The wave of …
“Six hundred and ninety-eight, six hundred and ninety-nine, seven hundred.” Mathieu passes pebbles from one side to another. Seven hundred in all, one for each of the Hail Marys he has prayed that night. A night which to him feels like the evening in Gethsemane, in the Garden of Olives, where Jesus also felt alone, …
Burkina Faso is celebrating 125 years of evangelization in a country currently marred by violence and terrorism. The African nation occupies first place on the Global Terrorism Index 2025 and suffers from severe security issues, constant attacks against civilian populations, and entire regions that can only be reached by helicopter. Despite this situation, the Church …
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A project supported by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) aims to train 150 priests to be “agents of reconciliation, healing, social transformation, and national cohesion.” Fr. Peter Konteh was in bed, asleep, when he first heard the explosions. Jumping to his feet, he called out to the other priest in the house to …
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A plea for government in northern Nigeria to rethink the sudden and unprecedented closure of schools during Ramadan has come from a bishop concerned for the hundreds of thousands of children affected. Bishop Gerald Mamman Musa of Katsina (photo) said it came as “a complete surprise” when governors in his state as well as Kano, …
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The murder of seminarian Andrew Peter follows the recent killing of Fr Sylvester Okechukwu. Nigeria has had three times more kidnappings of clergy and religious in the first three months of 2025 than in the same period of 2024. (Cover photo: Pray to Christ on the cross for the suffering Church in Nigeria. Add your …
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