“I'm not afraid of death”: Nigerian Priest Recounts Ordeal as Abductee, Attributes Escape to Our Lady of Perpetual Help

“They told me I was their enemy. They accused me and others of killing their people. They said they would kill me,” the Parish Priest of St. Jerome Catholic Church in Irekpai, Uzairue, Edo State, Nigeria, recalled.

Alongside Seminarian Justice, they were led into the forest, where their captors continued to brutalize them.

Fr. Agabi recalls being stripped of his Alb, stole and everything else he had on except his rosary. He was forced him to carry his Alb under his arm, he further recalls.

In captivity, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 100 million naira (now approximately US$65,000.00).

“They asked who I would call, and I told them I could contact the Bishop. The kidnappers spoke to him, but the Bishop told them the Church had no money to pay,” the Nigerian Catholic Priest recalled, adding that Bishop Gabriel Ghiakhomo Dunia “angered the kidnappers, who intensified their assaults.”

Fr. Agabi realized that their survival depended on giving the abductors some hope that ransom negotiations were ongoing.

“I begged the Bishop and other Priests whom I contacted to at least pretend to negotiate with them. I knew they were capable of killing us at any time, and we needed to buy time,” he told ACI Africa during the March 29 interview.

As days passed, the captors' brutality continued, he recalled and recounted, “They would tie us up, cover our faces, and threaten to kill us. They took us to a deep pit, saying they would dump our bodies there after killing us.”

Then, Fr. Agabi recalled an unexpected turn of events that he says gave them a chance to escape. One night, two of the abductors went out to buy food, but they never returned. This created confusion among the other kidnappers.

“I am a devotee of Our Mother of Perpetual Help; I made a devotion to Mother of Perpetual Help. That was, because all through my case with those kidnappers, I was always invoking the salvation of Mother of Perpetual Help,” he recounted.

“That Sunday was Trinity Sunday,” Fr. Agabi recalled, referring to the day they were abducted, and further recalling his surrender to the will of God, either be executed or survive to tell the story, he remembers praying, "God, if it's your will that I survive, make it happen but if not let your will be done; I surrender my life into your hands Lord".

"At around midnight, some of them started falling asleep. That was our opportunity. The Seminarian and I ran into the bush and kept running. We ran for hours in total darkness, not knowing where we were going,” Fr. Agabi recalls.

The escape was successful, he told ACI Africa, recalling the events of 9 June 2020, when he alongside Seminarian Justice finally regained their freedom.

He described the escape as a miracle, adding that the experience was traumatic, leaving him with scars to date. Close to five years since the captivity, Fr. Agabi continues to struggle with the psychological effects of the ordeal, he said.

“Ever since then, I have not been the same. If I see a Fulani man or if I drive on a lonely road, fear grips me. I don’t think anyone who has experienced this can be normal again,” he said.

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While the experience of fear is real, the abduction experience has strengthened his resolve, the 46-year-old Nigerian Catholic Priest said, and explained, “I'm no longer scared of anything;  I'm not afraid of death.”

“Even though you say you want to kill me now and you point a gun at me, I will not follow you; I will not go,” he said, adding that if he had known he would be subjected to the torture he had, “it’s better you die, than you experience that.”

Fr. Agabi lamented the lack of psychospiritual support, saying, “Nobody has ever called me to ask how I am coping or if I need help. I am just trying to live with the trauma.”

In his considered view, the Church and security agencies must do more to protect Priests, who are increasingly becoming targets. “The kidnappings are not stopping. A Priest was even taken from his own apartment. This means we are not safe anywhere,” he said.

He went on to call for better education and training on security awareness, saying, “We need to be taught how to respond when faced with these situations. What should we do when attackers storm our homes? How do we escape? How do we protect ourselves?”

Fr. Agabi, who has been a Priest for 15 years proposed organizing spiritual retreats, where the Clergy are trained in crisis management, self-defense, and survival tactics.

“We don’t pray for bad things to happen, but if they do, we must know what to do to defend ourselves as Priests,” he said.

Fr. Agabi urged other Priests facing similar threats not to lose faith. “Do not give up. Look up to God, the same God who saved me. If we are alive after such experiences, it means God still has a purpose for us,” he said.

“Those men had every opportunity to kill me, but God did not allow it. That means my mission is not yet completed here on earth, and this is a second chance for me to serve God even better than I had done before I was kidnapped,” Fr. Agabi told ACI Africa on March 29.