Nigerian police rescue nuns after two months in captivity
Nigerian authorities have rescued three nuns and three aspirants who were kidnapped in Edo state two months ago.
According to Catholic News Agency, the six women were abducted from the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Convent in Iguoriakhi on Nov. 13, 2017.
After the kidnapping, the convent received a ransom demand for $55,000, but the mother superior, Agatha Osarekho, said that she refused to pay it.
"No ransom was paid. Well, we know that [the police] did their best because they are aware. They had to do their work. The most important thing is that our sisters are out," Osarekho said, as reported by Crux.
"We are happy; to God be the glory! One was released [Saturday] and the others were also released today [Sunday]. They are fine and are receiving some medical checkup in a hospital," she added.
The six women were released unharmed, but the captors were able to escape during the rescue operation on Jan. 6. Although the kidnappers were not apprehended, Osarekho applauded the efforts of the police.
Osarekho said that the three aspiring nuns will be helped to "settle down" before they reunite with their families. "Their families have been anxious. So, we will get the sisters to speak with them," the mother superior said.
The kidnapping had left the Nigerian Church in distress and had prompted Archbishop Alfred Martin of Lagos to wonder whether the authorities were working hard enough to rescue the women from captivity.
In December, the Bishops' Conference of Nigeria denounced the kidnapping, saying "agents of darkness continue to hold our people to ransom through kidnapping, armed robbery and other dehumanizing activities."
Pope Francis also called attention to the plight of the kidnapped women and prayed with the bishops during his Angelus address on Dec. 17.
Several religious leaders have been abducted in Nigeria in the past in an apparent attempt to extort money in exchange for their release.
In October, Fr. Aurizio Pallù, a 63-year-old Italian missionary priest, was kidnapped in Benin City, Nigeria.
On Sept. 1, Fr. Cyriacus Onunkwo was abducted in the village of Orlu in Imo state. Another priest — Fr. Jude Udokwu — was reportedly attacked by kidnappers in the same village earlier that day, but managed to escape.
After the 2017 Annual General Meeting of Justice Development and Peace Commissions/Caritas Nigeria, the Church issued a communique asking the Nigerian government to increase the efforts to stop the kidnapping of religious figures.
The Church leaders expressed their grief over the "re-emergence of kidnappings" across Nigeria, adding that priests and religious sisters are "gradually turning into endangered species."