Bandits kidnap 3 seminarians, injure 6 others in Kaduna

Gunmen suspected to be bandits have attacked and kidnapped three seminarians and left six others injured at St. Albert the Great Institute of Philosophy/Christ the King Major Seminary, Kaduna.

The school is situated at Fayit community, Kagoma Chiefdom in Jama’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

A letter signed by the Chancellor of Kafanchan Diocese, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Okolo and addressed to the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) sighted by newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, noted that the seminarians were abducted at 7:26p.m. Monday night, from the Chapel inside the Seminary owned by the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan.

According to the Chancellor, the number of seminarians abducted during the attack was ascertained after a head count was carried out.

The letter partly reads: “We announce with unease, the kidnap of three major seminarians of the Christ the King Major Seminary. Christ the King Major Seminary, our diocesan Major Seminary, is domiciled within the St. Albert Institute. It houses mostly the formators and seminarians preparing for the catholic priesthood. The Seminarians receive academic formators from the St. Albert Institute.

“As at the time of the attack, the Rectors of the Seminary and the Institute, 132 Seminarians, six non-seminarians, one female non-academic staff and one steward were on ground. Six Seminarians sustained various degrees of injuries.

“A dispatch of soldiers of the Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) was on ground to accompany the formators and the injured Seminarians to Salem Hospital in Kafanchan. There, they were treated end discharged after being confirmed to be stable.

“From the narrative of the seminary security agents, the law enforcement personnel and the headcount conducted after mass on the 12th of October 2021, it was confirmed that three Theology Four seminarians were abducted. These Seminarians belong to the Apostle of Divine Charity and the Little Sons of the Eucharist Congregation.”