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CV NEWS FEED // Nigerian police have launched an operation to rescue two Catholic nuns who were kidnapped Jan. 7 while traveling.
CatholicVote previously reported that the nuns, Sisters Vincentia Maria Nwankwo and Grace Mariette Okoli, belong to the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. According to a news release from the order’s secretary general, Sister Vincentia Maria is the principal of a secondary school, while Sister Grace Mariette is a teacher at another secondary school.
“They were kidnapped along Ufuma road on their way back from their Vocational Association’s meeting at Ogboji,” the news release stated.
According to Premium Times Nigeria, police confirmed the abduction Jan. 8 and announced that an operation is already underway to attempt to recover the nuns.
The secretary general called for prayers for the quick release of the two nuns, commending the sisters to the care of Our Lady.
The kidnappers have not been identified and, according to Premium Times Nigeria, no group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. However, Islamist extremists have been targeting Christians in the country for years. Premium Times Nigeria reported that a separatist group, The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has often been accused of attacks and abductions in the area of the nuns’ kidnapping.
Humanitarian organization Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) stated in a news release that though unconfirmed, it is presumed that the kidnappers are “local armed criminal gangs” that “seek financial gain through ransoms.”
As CatholicVote previously reported, Nigeria was recently designated as the most dangerous country in the world to be a Christian by a global humanitarian organization, due to the high numbers of murders that result from conflict between Muslims and Christians in the country.
ACN stated that recent years have brought persecution to Catholic clergy and religious. In 2024 alone, 11 priests were kidnapped and one was killed. Three priests have been missing for years. Similar incidents occurred in 2023, when three priests were murdered and an additional 25 priests, seminarians, and religious were kidnapped, one of whom was killed.
