Catholic Priest Kidnapped in Nigeria Found Dead

Catholic Priest Kidnapped in Nigeria Found Dead

Gunmen demanded huge ransom

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST News Service, who was born in Nigeria

OTUKPO, NIGERIA (ANS - June 22, 2016) -- The body of a Roman Catholic priest kidnapped two months ago in central Nigeria was found today in bushes near a local government building in Otukpo, Benue state.

A church leader at the Catholic Diocese of Otukpo told Morning State News by phone that the body of the Rev. John Adeyi, vicar-general of the Otukpo Diocese, was found earlier today (Wednesday, June 22, 2016). Unknown gunmen kidnapped him on April 24.

“The body was in decaying state, and policemen and Christian villagers are at the scene where the corpse was found,” the church leader, who requested anonymity, said two hours after the discovery. “They are currently making effort to move the corpse from the back of the Education Authority office in the town to a morgue.”

Speaking from the site where the body was found, the church official added that, “the body of the priest was dumped by his kidnappers at the place it was found.”

According to Morning Star News (http://morningstarnews.org), Adeyi was kidnapped at gunpoint while traveling from Otukpo to Ogbokolo for pastoral duties. His abductors contacted church officials and demanded 25 million naira (US$121,224) as ransom, according to a parishioner who requested anonymity. Some 2 million naira (US$9,700) had been paid, according to one unconfirmed press report.

The kidnappers had contacted the bishop of Otukpo Diocese to demand the ransom, the church member said.

“The kidnappers used the mobile phone of the Very Rev. Adeyi to contact our bishop,” he said.

Adeyi also served St. Bernard’s Catholic Parish, Okpoga in Okpokwu.

“The bishop of Otukpo Diocese, the Rt. Rev. Michael Apochi, could not be reached for comment as he was said to be involved in the evacuation of the corpse,” said Morning Star News.

Paul Yakadi, police commissioner of Benue state, confirmed the death of Adeyi but declined to give further details.

In a sermon at an event in Abuja in October 2011, Adeyi urged Catholics to always pray for their priests because of the many challenges they face. Preaching at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro Cathedral, Garki, Abuja, on Oct. 28, 2011, Adeyi said that in spite of the many challenges, priests will not give up but are determined to run the race of faith to the end.

Photo captions: 1) The Rev. John Adeyi, vicar-general of Otukpo Diocese, Benue state, Nigeria. (Morning Star News). 2) Dan Wooding with his mother, Anne Wooding, shortly after his birth at Vom Christian Hospital in Northern Nigeria.

About the writer: Dan Wooding, 75, is an award-winning winning author, broadcaster and journalist born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, Alfred and Anne Wooding. He is now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for nearly 53 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren, who all live in the UK. Dan is the founder and international director of the ASSIST News Service (ANS), and the author or co-author of some 45 books, the latest of which is a novel called Mary: My Story from Bethlehem to Calvary (http://marythebook.com). Dan has a weekly radio show and two TV programs all based in Southern California. Before moving to the US, Dan was a senior reporter with two of the UK’s largest circulation newspapers and was also an interviewer for BBC Radio One in London.

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