A Nigerian Catholic priest who recently returned from the U.S. has been kidnapped by Boko Haram militants near the Cameroon border, church officials said Sunday.
Rev. Alphonsus Afina was abducted on June 1 near Gwoza in Borno state while traveling from Mubi to Maiduguri for a church workshop. His convoy was ambushed near a military checkpoint, where attackers launched a rocket-propelled grenade, killing one person and injuring others, according to Bishop John Bogna Bakeni of Maiduguri.
Bakeni, who spoke briefly with Afina by phone a day after the kidnapping, said the priest sounded exhausted but remained in “good spirits.”
The attackers also seized other travelers, but the total number abducted remains unclear. Authorities have not commented on the incident.
Rev. Robert Fath of the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska—where Afina served from 2017 to 2024—said he received confirmation from Boko Haram that the group is holding Afina.
Afina currently works in Nigeria with the Catholic Justice, Development and Peace Commission.
Nigeria continues to face escalating violence in its north and central regions, where armed groups routinely abduct civilians and target religious leaders. Boko Haram has waged an insurgency since 2009, killing tens of thousands and displacing over 2 million people, according to the UN.
