Days after the abduction of
four Nigerian Major Sem-
inarians by men “wear-
ing military uniform”,
the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria are
counting on the security agencies in
their country to make real their as-
surance of securing the release of the
seminarians and called for prayers for
the seminarians’ “speedy release”.
The Bishops were reacting to the
Wednesday, January 8 incidence at
the Good Shepherd Catholic Major
Seminary in Nigeria’s Kaduna State
when “bandits accessed the school
dormitory where two hundred and
sixty eight (268) students were being
accommodated,” the police spokes-
man in Kaduna State, Yakubu Sabo
has been quoted as saying.
Since then, various media have re-
ported the action by the police in Ka-
duna to hunt down the kidnappers,
with the Police Commissioner in the
State, Umar Muri assuring members
of the Good Shepherd Major Semi-
nary, during his visit to the Catholic
formation house, of his commitment
to ensuring the seminarians’ release.
The abductors, according to various
sources, were wearing military uni-
form, accessed the Seminary premises
around 10.30 p.m. January 8, and op-
erated for about 30 minutes.
“After head count of students with
security agents, four seminarians have
been declared missing. Kindly say a
prayer for their release,” Fr. Joel Us-
man, the Registrar of the Good Shep-
herd Major Seminary has been quoted
as saying.
The four missing seminarians were
first year philosophy students. On Sat-
urday, January 11, the abductors made
contact with the family members of the
seminarians “but never pronounced
any amount of money as ransom,” a
source said.
Kidnappings of Catholic Church
members in Nigeria, especially priests,
have multiplied in the last months, a
situation that has prompted Church
leaders to express serious concerns
about the security of their members
and called on the government at all
levels to prioritize the security of its
citizens.
