Islamic jihadis burn Catholic priest to death, shoot and injure his colleague in Nigeria

Gunmen entered a Church in northwest Nigeria on Sunday and immolated a priest to death and shot his colleague, police report. Next month [February 25], is the presidential election and this raises concern about security as there have been kidnappings for ransom and killings by armed gangs. 

Although the media states that the motive for this latest attack is not immediately clear, [although gunmen have previously targeted priests], the northern part of Nigeria is mostly Muslim and the jihadis among them tend to target people of non Islamic religions.

Wasiu Abiodun, police spokesperson for Niger state, said in a statement that armed men torched the residence of Father Isaac Achi, of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, in Paikoro local government area, after failing to gain entry around 3:00 a.m. He was burned to death as another priest, Fr. Collins, was shot and wounded as he tried to escape.

Fr. Collins is recovering at a local hospital, Adiodun said.

"This is a sad moment. For a priest to be killed in such a manner means that we are not all safe. These terrorists have lost it, and drastic action is needed to end this ongoing carnage," said Niger state governor Sani Bello.

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