Amid a rash of mass kidnappings in Nigeria, an Anglican priest in Nigeria abducted along together with his wife and daughter has died in captivity, leaders of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion announced on Wednesday.
The Rev. Edwin Achi was kidnapped on Oct. 28 along together with his wife, Sarah Achi, and daughter from Nissi village, Chikun County, in Kaduna state. Church leaders didn’t say how he died, however the assailants had demanded a ransom of 600 million naira ($415,216).
“The Venerable Edwin, who was kidnapped alongside his wife on 28 October, has been confirmed dead,” the Anglican leaders said in a press statement. “His transition is a painful loss to the complete Diocese, the clergy, the church family and all who were blessed by his faithful ministry, humble spirit and unwavering devotion to the service of God. We proceed to wish for the discharge of his wife and daughter still within the hands of kidnappers.”
Days before his death, his captors released a photograph of him and his wife together with other captive Christians.
Harrison Gwamnishu of Safe City Foundation had said in a previous press statement that the ransom sum was outrageous.
“In the photo released by the abductors, other innocent victims are also seen, showing this is just not an isolated attack but a part of a growing wave of insecurity,” Gwamnishu said. “I’m calling on the federal government, the Kaduna state government and all relevant security agencies to act swiftly and decisively. This situation is unacceptable. Every day these victims remain in captivity is one other day of trauma and uncertainty for his or her families and communities. The government must intervene immediately to secure their protected release.”
Nelly Achi, a relative of the Anglican priest, had said in a public statement, “We are crying and pleading for mercy, Jehovah; 600 million [naira] is the demand for his or her ransom. This is sort of huge for the family to handle. We are soliciting and begging to your acts of kindness.”
Wave of Kidnappings
The announcement got here as Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, under pressure from the U.S. administration, on Wednesday (Nov. 26) ordered the recruitment of 20,000 security personnel to be added to the present force of 30,000 following a wave of mass kidnappings.
“The police will recruit an extra 20,000 officers, bringing the whole to 50,000,” Tinubu said in a press statement. “My fellow Nigerians, it is a national emergency, and we’re responding by deploying more boots on the bottom, especially in security-challenged areas.”
Among recent mass kidnappings, gunmen abducted 303 students from a Catholic boarding school in Papiri village, Niger state on Nov. 21, in accordance with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). About 50 of them escaped shortly after, in accordance with the local chapter of CAN.
Niger Gov. Umar Bago reportedly said the variety of abducted students was “far, far below” 303 and that area schools had been closed 4 years ago resulting from threats. He faulted St. Mary’s Catholic School officials for re-opening the institution as gunmen issued threats two month prior and likewise 4 years ago, leading to the varsity closures, in accordance with the BBC.
In Eruku village, Kwara state, assailants killed two Christians on the worship service of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) and abducted 38 others on Nov. 21. Tinubu and state officials announced on Sunday (Nov. 23) that the 38 worshippers abducted in Kwara state had been released without giving terms of their freedom.
In Kebbi state’s Maga town, 25 girls were kidnapped from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School on Nov. 17, with one reportedly escaping the identical day. Again without providing details, Tinubu announced on Tuesday (Nov. 25) that the 24 remaining schoolgirls had been released.
Suspected culprits within the kidnappings are Islamic extremist groups, predominantly Muslim Fulani militias and criminal gangs.
In the country’s North-Central zone, where Christians are more common than they’re within the North-East and North-West, Islamic extremist Fulani militia attack farming communities, killing many a whole bunch, Christians above all, in accordance with a report by the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG). Jihadist groups equivalent to Boko Haram and the splinter group Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), amongst others, are also lively within the country’s northern states, where federal government control is scant and Christians and their communities proceed to be the targets of raids, sexual violence, and roadblock killings, in accordance with the report. Abductions for ransom have increased considerably lately.
The violence has spread to southern states, and a recent jihadist terror group, Lakurawa, has emerged within the northwest, armed with advanced weaponry and a radical Islamist agenda, in accordance with Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List report. Lakurawa is affiliated with the expansionist Al-Qaeda insurgency Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, originating in Mali.
Numbering within the thousands and thousands across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise a whole bunch of clans of many various lineages who don’t hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, in accordance with the APPG report.
“They adopt a comparable technique to Boko Haram and ISWAP and display a transparent intent to focus on Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they imagine herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are 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.
Nigeria remained amongst essentially the most dangerous places on earth for Christians, in accordance with the WWL. Of the 4,476 Christians killed for his or her faith worldwide through the reporting period, 3,100 (69 percent) were in Nigeria, in accordance with the WWL.
“The measure of anti-Christian violence within the country is already at the utmost possible under World Watch List methodology,” the report stated.
Nigeria ranked seventh on the 2025 WWL list of the 50 worst countries for Christians.
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