July 20 (EUROPA PRESS) –
One of the two Catholic priests kidnapped last Friday by armed men in the state of Kaduna, in northern Nigeria, has been shot dead by his kidnappers, while the second has been released after paying his ransom, as reported by the Nigerian Church.
“We wish to announce that the priest Fr. Donatus Cleophas has escaped his kidnappers and has joined us. However, it is with a deep sense of sadness and pain that we report the shocking murder of the priest John Mark Cheitnum,” he said in a statement. the Catholic diocese of Kafanchan.
The cleric has been released after a ransom was paid for him, the Kaduna state head of the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Rev. John Joseph Hayab, told the BBC.
Likewise, the Church has explained that the “decomposing” body of the priest John Mark Cheitnum has been discovered this Tuesday and has described the attack as a “appalling murder”.
In this context, the Nigerian Church has indicated that the cleric was shot dead on Friday, the same day he was kidnapped.
The Christian clerics were abducted at gunpoint from a village in Yadin Garu, Kaduna, after traveling there to attend a church function.
For his part, Reverend Hayab told the BBC that after negotiations a ransom was paid – although not the amount originally demanded – and the kidnappers then revealed where Reverend Cheitnum’s body could be found.
“As we request prayers for the rest of our dear brother and God’s consolation for his family. We wish to humbly ask each and everyone to refrain from taking the laws into their own hands. The Diocese has declared two days of mourning
for the peaceful rest of his soul and may he rest in peace”, the Church has sentenced.
Since May, a dozen Christian clerics — most of them Catholic — have been kidnapped by gunmen across Nigeria and at least three of them have been killed by their captors.
Insecurity in Nigeria, previously centered in the northeast of the country, has spread in recent months to other areas in the north and northwest, raising alarms about the possible expansion of these terrorist and criminal networks.
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