Nigeria court sentences three to death over priest abduction
A Nigerian court sentenced three men to death for kidnapping two Catholic priests in 2025; the report has not yet been confirmed by other sources.
Christian World | A Nigerian court sentenced three men to death for kidnapping two Catholic priests in 2025; the report has not yet been confirmed by other sources.
ACW | October 27, 2026 — The Adamawa State High Court in northeastern Nigeria sentenced three men to death on Thursday, October 22, 2026, for kidnapping two Catholic priests, Christian Daily International and Morning Star News reported.
The court also imposed prison terms for individual counts, the outlets said: 14 years for conspiracy to kidnap, 21 years for armed robbery and 20 years for harboring the abducted men. The three were also convicted of negotiating a ransom for the priests' release.
The priests were abducted on February 22, 2025, and held for 15 days in the home of one of the convicted men. Christian Daily reported that agents of Nigeria's Department of State Services freed them on March 8, 2025, without a ransom being paid, and arrested the three men as they were about to collect ransom money.
One of the convicted men had reportedly served as an altar server at the priests' church. A Catholic priest told Christian Daily the link to the kidnappers appeared to come from inside the congregation.
This report has not yet been confirmed by other sources. ACW could not open the court record and is relying on the outlets named above.
Background: ACW earlier reported on the 14-year prison sentence of a Christian woman in Nigeria's Borno State.
Why it matters: According to Christian Daily, the case reached a court ruling almost 20 months after the abduction; the safety of clergy and worshippers is part of freedom of religion and belief in Nigeria.
ACW will continue to follow this story.
Photo: Christian Daily International
