Four Catholic nuns abducted by gunmen in Nigeria on a highway

• Gunmen abduct four Catholic nuns on a highway in Nigeria’s oil-producing Imo state.
• The latest abduction comes three months after the head of the country’s Methodist Church was whisked away.
• Police say officers are pursuing the kidnappers.

Four Catholic nuns were kidnapped by gunmen on a highway in Nigeria’s southeast Imo state, which produces oil. This is the most recent example of the pervasive insecurity that makes driving dangerous.

Three months have passed since the country’s Methodist Church leader was kidnapped by armed men in the area. The preacher was purportedly paid a ransom of 100 million naira (about $235,000). By his captors and was freed just a few hours after being taken.

Armed gangs have been abducting individuals, including priests, from villages and highways for ransom. Mostly in the country’s northwest, and the practise has expanded to other regions. Escalating the level of insecurity in Africa’s most populous country.

The four nuns were kidnapped, according to Zita Ihedoro, secretary general of the Sisters of Jesus, the Saviour Generalate, on Sunday. While they were driving from Rivers state to Imo for a thanksgiving mass.

Ihedoro issued a statement that read, “We urge for strong prayer for their swift and safe release.”
Police in Imo are following the kidnappers, according to police spokesperson Michael Abattam.

The pursuit of them is ongoing, Abattam said on Tuesday. We are making every effort to ensure that the nuns are saved.

Nigeria’s military has launched an air offensive in the northwest to destroy the armed groups in the area. That are abducting residents of the villages and towns there.

The Nigerian Air Force recently released a statement saying, “In the Northwest especially, the effect of attacks done by NAF (Nigerian Air Force) aircraft have indicated that some terrorists have been eliminated and their sanctuaries destroyed.”

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