Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Bishop of Kaduna Catholic Archdiocese, Man’oso Ndagoso has said that his diocese is the worst hit by kidnapping incidents in Kaduna jurisdiction in recent times.
Arcbishop Ndagoso said in March 2019, one of the priests in the diocese was kidnapped, and that nothing has been heard of him from the Kidnappers since the period of the incident till date.
He also disclosed that in May 2019, another of his priest was kidnapped, but later released by the kidnappers.
The worst kidnapping incident in his domain, he added was the recent abduction of four seminary students of Catholic Good Shepherd Major Seminary, situated in Kakau, along Kaduna-Abuja highways.
The kidnappers were reported to have invaded the school hostel at night about two weeks ago and abducted four students.
Speaking in his office when some officials of the national body of Catholic Men Organisation of Nigeria (CMON) paid him a solidarity visit over the kidnapped students, the archbishop lamented the state of insecurity in the country generally, saying that Nigeria is under siege.
He noted: “This is the third time kidnapping is happening directly to our diocese.
“It is an understatement to say that our country is under siege. No other country will tolerate this type of insecurity without calling for mass protest. Definitely our country is under siege.”
While lamenting over the fate of the four students in captivity, Bishop Ndagoso said: “I cannot sleep over whatever condition they are going through.
“People can no longer sleep with two eyes closed, yet our leaders have the gut to say that there is security in the country. I think people now seem to have given up on the security situation because there is nothing they can do, they just resigned to fate.
“With the technologically developed security gadgets in the 21st century, there is nowhere in the world, even under water that criminals cannot be traced or tracked.
“But security agencies keep on saying that they are on top of the situation.
“We will continue to pray for them; they are our students, until they are freed. We keep hoping that God will expose those behind the insecurity in this country.
“We have taken some measures to fortify the school environment in order to secure the other students.”
The archbishop said in order not to jeopardise the lives of the kidnapped students, embargo had been placed not to disclose whatever amount the kidnappers are demanding as ransom.
“We have streamlined discussion with the kidnappers; it is only one person that is communicating with them, we can’t disclose any discussion with them.”
Earlier, in his speech, the national president of CMON, Chief Kris A. Anyanwu told the archbishop that the catholic men were on a visit to commensurate with him over the kidnapped seminarians.
Anyanwu advised that government at all levels, particular the states governed by Christians, should be reached to find lasting solution to kidnapping, banditry and others.
He said: “The kidnapping of the four seminarians is an ill wind that blew in January. We cannot rely on prayers alone, we needed to come and see you to express our feelings. We are feeling bad about the incident.
“Let government at all levels know that enough is enough. We should call our Christian governors to a round table to tell them to find solution to this ugly situation. Enough is enough.”