ABUJA, Nigeria — A Catholic priest was kidnapped on Tuesday night in Kaduna state, Nigeria, where Fulani herdsmen and other Islamic extremist terrorists have been active. His corpse was found the next day, sources said.
The Rev. Sylvester Okechukwu, priest of St. Mary Catholic Church in Tachira, Kaura County, was abducted from his home by unknown assailants shortly after 9 p.m. and later killed, according to the Kafanchan Diocese. He was 45.
“Kidnappers picked him up from the rectory yesterday, March 4th, past 9 p.m., and his lifeless body was found today, Ash Wednesday early morning,” area priest Williams Abba told Christian Daily International–Morning Star News in a text message. “What a day and manner to die! He had his ashes ready and was going to mark the foreheads of parishioners to remind them that they are dust and to dust they will return. This morning, his life was cut short and he has become dust before us.”
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The violent nature of his death was akin to that suffered by Christ, he said.
“Fr. Sylvester was without reproach. He was kind, easygoing, extremely hard-working and was a jolly good fellow. He loved the priesthood,” Abba said. “As we mourn the death of this martyr, we ask the good Lord to grant him eternal rest and bring peace to us and the church.”
Abba said Sylvester was a former student of his for four years.
“Never cheeky, never mischievous, humble and dedicated servant of God,” he said. “He was pastor of a newly created parish in Takad Chiefdom, Kaura Local Government Area, a local government that has become notorious for kidnappings for ransom and acts of brigandage.”
The chancellor in the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan, the Rev. Jacob Shanet, said in a press statement that the brutal loss had left the church heartbroken and devastated.
“Fr. Sylvester was a dedicated servant of God who worked selflessly in the vineyard of the Lord, spreading the message of peace, love and hope,” Shanet said. “He was always available and accessible to his parishioners. His untimely death has left an indelible void within our diocesan family, and we share in the pain of his passing with his family, friends and all those who knew and loved him.”
Nigeria has remained among the most dangerous places on Earth for Christians, according to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Of the 4,476 Christians killed for their faith worldwide during the reporting period, 3,100 (69%) were in Nigeria, according to the WWL.
“The measure of anti-Christian violence in the country is already at the maximum possible under World Watch List methodology,” the report stated.
In the country’s northcentral zone, where Christians are more common than they are in the northeast and northwest, Islamic extremist Fulani militia attack farming communities, killing many hundreds, Christians above all, according to the report. Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the splinter group Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), among others, are also active in the country’s northern states, where federal government control is scant and Christians and their communities continue to be the targets of raids, sexual violence, and roadblock killings, according to the report. Abductions for ransom have increased considerably in recent years.
The violence has spread to southern states, and a new jihadist terror group, Lakurawa, has emerged in the northwest, armed with advanced weaponry and a radical Islamist agenda, the WWL noted. Lakurawa is affiliated with the expansionist al-Qaeda insurgency Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, originating in Mali.
Nigeria ranked seventh on the latest World Watch List of the 50 most dangerous countries to live as a Christian.
Kaduna state has been subject to constant attacks by Fulani herdsmen in recent years. Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt have been inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
This article was originally published at Christian Daily International–Morning Star News
