Kidnapped Nigerian priest, 7 others rescued; 2 suspects arrested
A Catholic priest kidnapped in Nigeria’s Benue state has been rescued along with seven other captives, and police have arrested two suspects linked to the case.
The Rev. John Inalegwu Otache, parish priest of St. Margaret’s Church in Ajegbe-Awume, was seized with seven others and held for five days, according to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.
Officers of the Benue State Police Command, working with local vigilantes — community security volunteers — freed all eight captives and arrested the two suspects on Oct. 18, according to local media.
Otache was abducted Oct. 13 while returning from Otukpo along the Otobi Amejo-Ajegbe road in the Ohimini local government area of Benue state, Infovaticana reports.
Benue police said security forces freed Otache in an operation that also released other kidnapping victims. All those rescued were taken to the university hospital in Otukpo for medical checks.
Authorities have not publicly identified the kidnappers.
The Catholic Diocese of Otukpo, where Otache serves, welcomed his return and thanked Catholics and others in the region for their prayers and support. Diocesan chancellor the Rev. Joseph Itodo said in a statement that the diocese is announcing the news “with hearts full of joy and thanksgiving to God.”
Itodo said Bishop Michael Ekwoyi Apochi of Otukpo thanked clergy, members of religious orders, lay Catholics and others who prayed for the priest and stood with him during his captivity.
Members of Otache’s parish in Ajegbe-Awume had prayed and called for his safe return.
Itodo urged Catholics to keep praying for the many people still held by criminal gangs elsewhere in Nigeria.
“We pray that God will preserve us from all evil and restore sanity to our country Nigeria,” he said.
Kidnapping for ransom by criminal gangs has increased in parts of Nigeria.
Another priest, the Rev. Emmanuel Ezema of the Diocese of Zaria, remains missing. Armed men abducted him from his home in St. Peter’s Parish in Rumi, Kaduna state, on Dec. 2, 2025.
There has been no word of his release. His diocese condemned the kidnapping and asked for prayers for his return, and the Catholic Church in Nigeria remains concerned about his fate.
Priests, seminarians and lay Catholics have been kidnapped in several regions of Nigeria.
In August, a seminarian abducted from the bishop’s residence in Otukpo escaped his captors after more than two weeks.
In February, attackers abducted the Rev. Nathaniel Asuwaye, a priest of the Diocese of Kafanchan, from his parish in Kaduna state. He regained his freedom in May.
The kidnappings have prompted repeated calls for authorities to act.
In July, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the retired archbishop of Abuja, urged the Nigerian government to take steps to end the kidnappings and said authorities “have no excuse” for failing to protect the population.
Benue state is part of Nigeria’s Middle Belt, the band of states between the mainly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south. Its capital is Makurdi, and Otukpo is one of its main towns.
Kaduna state, where Ezema and Asuwaye served, lies in Nigeria’s northwest and borders the Federal Capital Territory around Abuja.
