Minna, 18 January, 2023 / 9:50 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis has invoked prayers for the soul of Fr. Isaac Achi, the Nigerian Catholic Priest who was murdered on Sunday, January 15 following an attack on Sts. Peter and Paul Kaffin Koro Parish of Minna Diocese in Nigeria.
Speaking to pilgrims in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall at the end of his Wednesday, January 18 General Audience, the Holy Father said, “I ask all of you to join me in praying for Fr. Isaac Achi of the Diocese of Minna in Northern Nigeria who was killed last Sunday in an attack on his rectory.”
The Catholic Diocese of Minna announced the killing of Fr. Achi in a message obtained by ACI Africa on January 15 that also stated his Assistant, Fr. Collins Omeh, had survived the attack, and had been hospitalized.
In his January 15 letter addressed to the Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), the Chancellor of Minna Diocese, Fr. Amanchukwu Emeka G. provided some updates about the situation of Fr. Omeh, saying, he “sustained some gunshot wounds but he is responding to treatment”.
The news of the murder of Fr. Achi and the shooting of Fr. Omeh came amid reports of the kidnapping of Fr. Michael Olofinlade, a member of the Clergy of the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti in Oye Local Government, South Nigeria.