The World Council of Churches has condemned the spate of kidnappings which have been taking place in Nigeria including, this week, the head of the country’s Methodist Church.
Dr Samuel Chukwuemeka Kanu Uche, Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, was kidnapped on Sunday along with the Methodist Bishop Dennis Okechukwu Mark, and a chaplain to the Prelate, Jeremiah Abidemi Shittu. All three were released the following day, according to police.
In a statement, the executive committee of the World Council of Churches said it was “deeply disturbed” by the kidnapping which it said was “representative of an escalating crisis of criminal kidnappings which have become commonplace across Nigeria”.
“It is estimated that in the first three months of this year alone, more than 3,500 people have been killed and many more kidnapped by armed groups in Nigeria,” the statement said.
This included a “particularly serious attack” on a passenger train travelling between Abuja and Kaduna in March in which at least nine people were killed and scores kidnapped with more than 60 are believed to be still held by the gunmen.
The WCC statement noted numerous clergy had been targeted in kidnappings. These include Roman Catholic priests, Fr Stephen Ojapa and Fr Oliver Okpara, of the Diocese of Sokoto, who were kidnapped in an armed attack on their residence in Katsina state on 25th May as well as Fr Joseph Aketeh, of the Archdiocese of Kadun,a who was kidnapped in March and died at the hands of his abductors after more than a month of captivity.
“The WCC has received reports of many other clergy and Christians who have been kidnapped and still remain in captivity, with little or no effort by the government to rescue the victims,” the statement said.
“The global ecumenical fellowship of churches is deeply concerned by the effects of the activities of criminal kidnappers who have continued to commit crimes and atrocities against the people of Nigeria for more than a decade, with the clergy and the churches among the major victims.”
The committee, which condemned the kidnappings, appealed to the Nigerian authorities “to do all in their power to rescue those still held in captivity, to bring an end to the kidnappings and killings, and to ensure adequate security for the lives and properties for all Nigerians to enable them to live in safety and dignity and without fear”.
