Nigerian priest kidnapping is considered a form of attack on “soft targets” who are Christians.

Cameroon’s Yaoundé Two people have been taken into custody by Nigerian police on suspicion of being involved in the abduction of Father Thomas Oyode, the rector of Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary School in Auchi Diocese, which is situated in Edo State in the nation’s troubled central-southern region.

According to Edo State Police Commissioner Umoru Ozigi, who presented the suspects to the media on October 30, the suspects were helping the police find their accomplices.

In an area where criminals are a major concern, he urged the populace to provide any information that could result in the arrest of criminals.

According to a statement from Father Peter Egielewa, the diocese’s director of communications, Oyode was kidnapped Sunday night at the seminary at approximately 7:00 p.m., during evening prayers and benediction.

He claimed that when the kidnappers abducted two seminarians at first, the rector requested them to let the students go and take him instead.

Rev. Fr. Thomas Oyode, the institution’s rector, was kidnapped and taken into the forest. Nevertheless, until security measures surrounding the seminary are strengthened, the vice rector and every seminarian have been located, are safe, and have been temporarily moved to a secure location. Egielewa issued a statement saying, “Unfortunately, no communication has been had with the abductors yet.”

According to unverified claims, the kidnappers are requesting a ransom of around $122,000. Crux never received a response to his requests for confirmation from the bishop.

The new abduction underscores the escalating danger to Nigerian clergy and religious figures, who are typically seen as “soft targets.”

As per a report Since 2009, almost 150,000 civilian deaths in Nigeria have been attributed to religious motivations, according to the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, or “Intersociety.”

According to the research, which was released on February 14, since 2009, over 800 Christian communities have been targeted, and about 14 million Christians have been displaced and forced to leave their homes.

“The targeting of Catholic clergy and Christians is part of a larger plan to Islamize the country,” Emeka Umeagbalassi, the Director of Intersociety, told Crux.

He called the federal government “a wing of Fulani killers,” a reference to a predominantly Muslim ethnic group that is widely distributed throughout West Africa, including Nigeria, and accused it of discriminating against Christians.

There are numerous butcher shops, disappearances and kidnappings occurring around the nation, and the security services are involved in these crimes,” Emeka stated.

Abuja Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama claimed that the ongoing murders and abductions of Christians “have put the security agencies to shame.”

Increased insecurity is still a problem for our country. Bandits, kidnappers, herders militias, Boko Haram insurgents, and the so-called “unknown gunmen” continue to incite fear in different parts of the country, Kaigama told Crux.

He directly attacked the federal government for its inability to safeguard the populace, claiming that it is no longer able to stop violent offenders who terrify people in various sections of the nation at will.

HURIWA, the Nigerian Human Rights Writers Association, has called on the federal government to take stronger measures to combat attacks on moderate Muslims, priests, and pastors who are increasingly becoming targets of Fulani herders, terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers.

In order to obtain the release of pastoral agents, the Sokoto Diocese paid more than $37,200, according to Mathew Hassan Kukah, the diocese’s vocal bishop, last year.

HURIWA said in a report last year that while there are legitimate concerns that these kidnappings amount to intentional persecution of Christianity, these worries seem to be overshadowed by the financial motivation.

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According to the report, additional criminals have been encouraged to carry out similar crimes since the government has not addressed the problem of priest kidnappings and murders.

According to Christian Solidarity International’s Franklyne Ogbunwezeh, a senior researcher for Sub-Saharan Africa, criminal gangs may be motivated by financial gain to Jihadist forces who abduct clergy have a distinct goal: to drive Christians out of their communities, especially in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, in order to establish an Islamic caliphate.

“Christian leaders who are well-known in their communities are abducted and killed by them, sometimes even after ransom has been paid. The purpose of this is to distance the community from its core, which will facilitate the destruction of such Christian communities,” he stated.

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