Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo urges Catholics to include kidnapped teachers and students in every Mass, as wave of school attacks continues
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- 1 Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo urges Catholics to include kidnapped teachers and students in every Mass, as wave of school attacks continues
By Catholic Gist International | May 31, 2026
A Desperate Plea from Ogbomoso
The classrooms were full. Children were learning. Teachers were writing on blackboards. Then the Gunmen arrived.
On May 15, 2026, armed men stormed three schools in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria — Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School, and L.A. Primary School. They shot a teacher, abducted Principal Rachael Alamu and three other Teachers, seized about 40 Students from their Desks and vanished into the bush.
Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo did not issue a political statement. He did not call for retaliation. Instead, he sent a letter to every priest in his diocese with one urgent request:
“In view of this deeply saddening incident, I urgently appeal that we include the intention for the safe release of the captives in every holy Mass henceforth.”
This is the Nigeria that Catholic families now live in. This is the Church that refuses to let terror define its response.
Not the First Time. Not the Last.
The Oyo State abductions are not an isolated tragedy. They are part of a pattern that has made Nigeria one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a child in school.
Just six months earlier, on November 21, 2025, over 300 students and staff were kidnapped from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State — one of the worst mass abductions in Nigeria’s history. Gunmen on motorcycles surrounded the school, separated the Christians, and marched them into the forest.
Pope Leo XIV was “deeply saddened” by the attack. He appealed publicly for the “immediate release” of the hostages and prayed for their families. The children were eventually freed before Christmas, but the trauma of captivity does not end when the chains are broken.
Bishop Bulus Yohanna of Sokoto, whose diocese endured the Papiri attack, spoke words that have become a refrain for Nigeria’s persecuted Church:
“Our hearts are broken, but our faith remains firm.”
That faith is being tested again. And again.
The Numbers Behind the Headlines
The statistics are staggering — and they tell only part of the story.
Multiple sources confirm that kidnappers have seized 212 Catholic priests in Nigeria over the past decade. Gunmen have murdered twelve. They have dragged seminarians from formation houses, snatched nuns from convents, and pulled parishioners from pews — and the Church still gathers, still prays, still refuses to close its doors
Schools are closing. Parents in northern and central Nigeria are pulling their children out of class rather than risk another morning that ends in gunfire. An entire generation’s education is being held hostage — literally and figuratively.
The motivation is complex. Some abductions are attributed to Boko Haram and its offshoots, who have waged a 16-year insurgency in the northeast. Others are carried out by bandit groups who have discovered that schoolchildren fetch lucrative ransoms. In many cases, the lines between terrorism and criminal enterprise have blurred into something uniquely Nigerian and uniquely devastating.
What is clear is this: the Church is a target. Catholic schools, with their reputation for quality education and their visibility in rural communities, have become soft targets in a hard war.
Why the Bishop’s Response Matters
In a country where anger is justified and retaliation is tempting, Bishop Badejo’s call to prayer is not weakness. It is strategy. It is the Church’s deepest conviction that prayer is not the absence of action, but the foundation of it.
By asking every priest to include the abducted in the Prayers of the Faithful at every Mass, he is doing something profound: he is ensuring that these children are not forgotten. He is weaving their names into the liturgical memory of the Church. He is making their suffering part of the offering that Catholics bring to the altar daily.
This is how the Church has always responded to persecution. Not with despair. Not with vengeance. But with the stubborn, persistent belief that God hears the cry of the poor — and that the poor include children stolen from their classrooms.
How Catholics Worldwide Can Respond
The Nigerian Church does not need pity. It needs solidarity. Here is what Catholics around the world can do:
1. Pray
Include the kidnapped teachers and students of Oyo State in your daily prayers. Pray the Rosary for their safe release. Ask Mary, under her title of Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, to intercede.
2. Fast
Consider fasting on Fridays for peace in Nigeria. The tradition of Friday penance is not archaic — it is the Church’s way of uniting its suffering with Christ’s.
3. Advocate
Contact your elected representatives and ask what your government is doing to support Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and banditry. International pressure matters.
4. Give
Support Catholic relief organizations working in Nigeria, such as Aid to the Church in Need or Catholic Relief Services. Your donations fund security, trauma counseling, and educational support for affected families.
5. Stay Informed
Follow reliable Catholic news sources — including Catholic Gist International — for verified updates. Do not let Nigeria become a story you scroll past.
A Prayer for Nigeria
In times like these, words fail. But the Church has always known that prayer does not fail. Here is a prayer for Nigeria, adapted from the responsive devotion “Mary Be With Me”:
Mary with your consent to be the Mother of God, torrents of graces poured forth upon the earth, opening up a path for me to follow.
Mary, be with me.
In times of loneliness — for the child in the forest, afraid and far from home.
Mary, be with me.
In times of turmoil and uncertainty — for the parent who does not know if their child will return.
Mary, be with me.
In times of grief, loss, or illness — for the teacher who was beheaded, and for every wounded soul.
Mary, be with me.
When I am anxious for the welfare of my family — for every Nigerian mother who sends her child to school with fear.
Mary, be with me.
When I am afraid — for Bishop Badejo, Bishop Yohanna, and every shepherd who leads through fire.
Mary, be with me.
When the Lord calls me to greater forgiveness — for the gunman who does not know what he does, and for the heart that wants to hate.
Mary, be with me.
When the Lord calls me to a greater purity — for the Church in Nigeria, bloodied but unbowed.
Mary, be with me.
What Happens Next
As of this writing, Principal Rachael Alamu and the abducted students remain in captivity. Their families wait, communities pray and their bishop keeps saying Masses.
The world will move on to other headlines. Another crisis will capture the news cycle. But the Church does not move on. The Church stays, prays and remembers.
This is what it means to be Catholic in Nigeria today. This is what it means to be Catholic anywhere — you refuse to forget any child, you refuse to waste any suffering, and you believe that even in the darkest forest, Mary walks beside the captive and the captor alike, calling both to conversion, calling both home.
About Catholic Gist International
Catholic Gist International is a Catholic news and devotional platform serving Catholics in Nigeria and worldwide. We provide verified news, daily prayers, saint profiles, and spiritual resources for the modern Catholic. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp for daily updates.
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