Nigeria Gunmen Kill Prominent Priest

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

ABUJA (Worthy News) – Suspected Islamic gunmen have killed the chaplain of Africa’s largest technical school institute in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna State, church sources said Sunday.

Priest Vitus Borogo, 50, served Catholics at the Kaduna State Polytechnic before being murdered Saturday when fighters raided a farm in the town of Kujama along the Kaduna-Kachia Road, confirmed the Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna.

Borogo was also chairman of the Kaduna Chapter of the Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests Association (NCDPA), said the Archdiocese Chancellor Christian Emmanuel.

It was not immediately clear what motivated the gunmen, but it came at a time of massive killings of Christians and attacks on churches in violence linked to Islamic fighters.

In a statement, Emmanuel said that Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, the Catholic archbishop of Kaduna, “condoles with the immediate family” and the many who knew the Borogo at Kaduna Polytechnic. He added that the archbishop “assures them of his fraternal closeness and prayers.”

Kaduna State Police said it was investigating the incident while authorities are under mounting pressure to protect Christians after several church attacks in recent weeks.

MORE KILLINGS

Last Sunday, June 19, gunmen killed eight people and kidnapped 38 others in an attack on two churches in Kaduna, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said.

The attack occurred during the morning service of a Catholic and Baptist church on Sunday, added Reverend Danlami Gajere, CAN chairman for Kasuwan Magani ward in Kaduna state.

Some three weeks ago, gunmen wielding AK-47 rifles and explosives attacked St Francis Catholic Church in Owo town, killing about 40 people, sources said.

The government suspects the insurgent group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). But ISWAP has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

Predominantly Islamic fighters, including crime groups known locally as “bandits,” have become increasingly active in Nigeria, kidnapping and killing Christians.

Last year, Nigeria accounted for nearly 80 percent of Christian deaths worldwide, with more than 4,650 believers killed, according to advocacy group Open Doors.

In recent weeks more than 100 Christians were reportedly killed in Nigeria.

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