A large group of Fulani bandits attacked and burned the rectory of the St Raphaël Fadan Kamantan parish in the Diocese of Kafanchan in Kaduna State (in the center of the country). The attack lasted an hour. There was a military checkpoint less than a kilometer away. The army, which was near the scene of the attack, did absolutely nothing.
According to information transmitted to the international pontifical foundation by various sources, and confirmed by the Bishop of Kafanchan, Julius Kundi, the parish priest, Fr. Emmanuel Okolo, and the assistant priest were able to escape the fire, but a seminarian, Na’aman Danlami, 25, was killed in the attack. Speaking to ACN by telephone, Bishop Kundi said:
“The attackers wanted to kidnap the parish priest. Having failed to enter the priest’s house, they set it on fire. The two priests were able to escape but the seminarian was burned alive.”
The bishop explained that the assault lasted more than an hour, but that there was no reaction or support from the military forces: “A kilometer away, there is a check point, but there was no reaction. Nigerian citizens are not protected. We hardly benefit from the security forces.”
The situation for Christians in Nigeria is simply appalling and no one is doing anything about it. 90% of Christians killed worldwide in 2022 were Nigerians.
Aid to the Church in Need International (ACN) has just denounced the latest attack against the Catholic Church in Nigeria, during which a seminarian from the Diocese of Kafanchan was burned alive and another kidnapped. This terrible incident took place on Thursday September 7, around 8 p.m.