Kaduna, Nigeria
Reuters
A Nigerian priest was kidnapped from his home in northern Kaduna state, the local Roman Catholic diocese said in a statement on Tuesday, in the first such reported abduction of a clergyman in the state since July.
Armed gangs are rife across northern Nigeria where they rob or kidnap for ransom, and violence has been increasing, where thinly stretched security forces often fail to stop the attacks.
Fr Christian Okewu Emmanuel, the chancellor for Kaduna Catholic diocese, said Rev Abraham Kunat, a parish priest in Idon Gida village, was abducted from a home he was staying in in another town, after leaving his parish due to insecurity.
Kaduna police spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, gunmen freed five sisters abducted six months ago from their boarding school in north-west Nigeria after their parents paid ransom money to secure their release, police and relatives said.
The bandits kidnapped 11 schoolgirls, including the sisters, from a secondary school in Zamfara state in March and later released six of them. The sisters were detained because the kidnappers found out their father had previously worked as a senior government official in the state.
Hadiza Abubakar, the mother of the school girls, said a total of 72 million naira ($US164,000) was paid as ransom in three instalments in exchange for their freedom.
She said the bandits last month posted a video showing her daughters with rifles and ammunitions, pressuring the family to meet their demands.
“Initially, we almost lost hope especially when we saw them in a video with guns around their necks,” Abubakar told Reuters.
A Zamfara police spokesperson confirmed the release of the five girls but did not mention the ransom payment.
Last week, a group of 21 children who were abducted by gunmen from a farm in northwestern Nigeria’s Katsina state were freed and reunited with their families, police said.
