Police in Nigeria on Monday said they are looking for a priest who was kidnapped on Saturday in the country’s southern Delta State.
Father Christopher Ogaga was taken Saturday evening as he traveled from Okpe to Warri, where he was scheduled to celebrate Mass at Mother of Redeemer Catholic Church on Sunday morning.
Ogaga is also pastor of St Luke’s Catholic Church and St. Jude’s Catholic Church, both in the Okpe area.
The kidnappers are reported to be asking for a ransom of over $40,000.
The Delta State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Mustafa, informed reporters about the kidnapping on Monday.
“Yes, we are already searching for the kidnappers. He was kidnapped two days ago,” he said, adding that officers were searching for the kidnappers.
The kidnapping happened in the same district where a Catholic church collapsed on Sunday, killing one person and injuring several others.
Clergy are often the targets of kidnapping for ransom by criminal gangs in Nigeria, even in predominantly Christian areas like Delta State.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria issued the statement July 3, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to do more to protect the people of the country.
“If the president cannot keep our country safe, then he automatically loses the trust of the citizens. He should no longer continue to preside over the killing fields and mass graves that our country has become,” the bishops said.
