AFRICA/NIGERIA - Two people involved in the kidnapping and murder of Father Sylvester Okechukwu have been arrested

Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - Two people suspected of being involved in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Father Sylvester Okechukwu, the priest kidnapped and murdered in Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria, have been arrested (see Fides, 6/3/2025).
The arrests were carried out by troops of the special military unit "Operation Safe Haven" (OPSH). According to a statement by OPSH spokesperson, Major Samson Zhakom, the suspects were arrested on March 24 following a raid on the hideout of the main suspect in a Ruga settlement in the Warsa-Piti community, in the Lere local government area of Kaduna State.
"During the preliminary investigation, the main suspect, a 33-year-old man, confessed that he had been hired by another person who lived in the same house as the slain priest to kidnap him," the military spokesperson said. "In a subsequent operation, security agents arrested the second suspect in Agwan Sarki, Tachira, in the Kaura Local Government Area. The suspects are currently in custody and undergoing further interrogation," he added. Father Sylvester Okechukwu, a priest of the Diocese of Kafanchan in Kaduna State, was kidnapped from his home in Tachira on the evening of March 4. His lifeless body was later found on March 5. The spokesperson added that investigations are ongoing to determine the whereabouts of other individuals involved in the crime. (L.M. (Agenzia Fides, 26/3/2025)

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