Nigeria: Okigwe Diocese appeals for prayers for kidnapped Priest

Prayers are requested for Fr. Michael Ifeanyi Asomugha, a Catholic priest who was allegedly kidnapped on April 15 from Nigeria’s Okigwe Diocese.

The Chancellor of the Nigerian Catholic Diocese details the kidnapping of Fr. Ifeanyi, the Curate of St. Paul’s Parish in Osu in the Okigwe Diocese, in a statement sighted by Catholic Trends on Friday, April 28.

In the statement, Fr. Princewill Iwuanyanwu states, “I am directed to inform you that one of our Priests, Rev. Fr. Michael Ifeanyi Asomugha was kidnapped on the evening of Saturday, April 15, 2023,”

Fr. Ifeanyi, who received his priestly ordination in September 2021, “was kidnapped along Oriagu-Obowo road in Imo state, while on his way back from the Diocesan Diaconate Ordination.” says Fr. Iwuanyanwu.

The announcement from the Chancellor of Okigwe Diocese includes a prayer request from Bishop Solomon Amanchukwu Amatu, the Local Ordinary of the Nigerian Episcopal See.

Fr. Iwuanyanwu said, “We solicit your fervent prayers that he may come back to us safe and sound while trusting in your goodwill and solidarity,”

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A rise in violence in Nigeria has been caused by gangs, whose members assault without discrimination, kidnap for ransom, and occasionally kill.

Since 2009, the West African country has also been dealing with the Boko Haram insurgency, a group that claims to want to convert Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, into an Islamic state.