Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - Brother Godwin Eze, one of the three Benedictine monks kidnapped by an armed gang on the night of 17 October in Eruku monastery in Kwara State, in central-northern Nigeria, was brutally killed (see Fides, 20/10/2023).
The other two postulants, Anthony Eze and. Peter Olarewaj, were set free on October 21st. Brother Godwin Eze was killed on October 18, the day after the kidnapping.
The two freed postulants described the circumstances of their abduction. The armed group, described as a band of Fulani shepherds, attacked the dormitory of the novitiate of the convent where about ten brothers, including novices and postulants, were sleeping around one in the morning on October 17th. They captured the three and were forced to walk barefoot in the middle of the night. The abductors took the three brothers to the bank of a river, shot Brother Godwin and threw his body into the water. The bandits then threatened the two postulants with machetes, claiming that they were looking for money. Then on October 21st they freed them. It is not known whether a ransom was paid (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 25/10/2023)
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