The town of Ketti, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, has become unstable because of the significant increase of abductions carried out in its area. Parish priest of St. John’s Catholic Church Ketti of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, Fr. Melchizedek Akpan, was warned multiple times that he and his assistant priest are targets of future kidnappings. Despite the danger, both of them stay true to their calling and do not wish to leave the community entrusted to them.

“Over a number of times, we were told that kidnappers were coming for us. We were told to flee, but we just felt that we needed to be with our people. They are the flock entrusted to us and we cannot abandon them and flee so we persevered and stay with the people.”

Fr. Akpan said that both members of the clergy and the local community are targeted by kidnappers. From ordinary people to the local chief, nobody is safe from abduction, and many cases already had tragic ends as multiple people did not survive the kidnapping. He added that these incidents affect the small local Christian community, especially as believers even fear attending church meetings. Even though more police officers were deployed in Ketti to increase security, the kidnappings are just as frequent as before.

The priest also lamented on the psychological trauma caused by the kidnappings and the deaths of many members of the community. The local parishioners are constantly trying to recover from these traumas, and many of them struggle spiritually as well. To fight these issues, the parish started a psychological support program, but because of financial problems and the lack of psychologists willing to work pro bono, they had to halt the program. Fr. Akpan added that despite the struggles, the community still has hope. Several kidnappers were caught and arrested, and he tirelessly works on rebuilding the community.

Source: ACI Africa