One of the seminarians who was abducted by gunmen on January 8th 2020, 18-year-old Michael Nnadi and the beautiful wife of a Kaduna-based medical doct
One of the seminarians who was abducted by gunmen on January 8th 2020, 18-year-old Michael Nnadi and the beautiful wife of a Kaduna-based medical doctor, Philip Ataga who was kidnapped from the family’s residence at Juji, in Chikun LGA of Kaduna state on January 24th have been killed. Their bodies were found dumped by the roadside, meaning they were kidnapped by the same ruthless gang, at different times and different places.
Ataga’s captors were said to have killed her after her family failed to meet their demand of a N150 million ransom for the deceased and two of her children who were also abducted. Her abductors dumped her corpse and called her husband and directed him to pick the corpse at a particular location. After killing her, the bandits are still reportedly making a demand of N20 million ransom for the release of the children, according to TheCable.
Nnadi, whose body was also recovered on Saturday was one of the four seminarians kidnapped from The Good Shepherd Major Seminary, Kaduna. The others are Pius Kanwai, Peter Umenukor and Stephen Amos. The gunmen, disguised in military camouflage, broke through the fence surrounding the seminarians’ living quarters and began shooting sporadically. They stole laptops and phones before kidnapping the four young men.
Rev. Fr. Joel Usman, Registrar of the Seminary, who announced the release of three of the students on Friday in Kaduna, was hopeful for the return of the fourth student. But today, Michael Nnadi, the youngest of the four captives was found dead. According to Catholic News Agency, the three students who were freed by the abductors, were released piece-meal. On Jan. 20, ACI Africa, CNA’s African news partner, reported that one of the abducted seminarians had been freed by his kidnappers after 10 days in captivity.
That seminarian was dumped alongside the highway with extensive injuries, which are believed to have been sustained during the kidnapping. He is now receiving medical treatment. On Friday, 31 January, Rev. Fr. Joel Usman announced that two more of the kidnapped seminarians had been released. At that time, it was reported that one seminarian was still at large, and was presumed to remain in captivity. That seminarian was Nnadi.
In his Feb. 1 statement, Bishop Kukah said that he had to delay the announcement of Nnadi’s death slightly until his mother could be informed.
Nearly 270 seminarians live at Good Shepherd. The seminary is located just off the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria Express Way. According to AFP, the area is notorious for criminal gangs kidnapping travelers for ransom. Schoolgirls and staff from a boarding school located near the same highway were also kidnapped in October, and were later released.
In the last year, several priests and seminarians, along with pastors from other Christian denominations, have been kidnapped in Nigeria, some for ranson, and some by Islamist militants and terrorist groups.
Church leaders have called on the government to prioritize the security of its citizens.
