RUMI, Nigeria (LifeSiteNews) — A Nigerian Catholic priest in the Diocese of Zaria was kidnapped from his parish at gunpoint late Tuesday night, the diocese has confirmed.

Father Emmanuel Ezema was captured by gunmen who broke into his residence at St. Peter Catholic Church in Rumi, December 2, the diocese announced the next day. The Diocese of Zaria has asked the faithful to pray for the safe return of Fr. Ezema.

Nigerian Christians have faced brutal persecution by Muslims for several decades, with many clerics being kidnapped and murdered for their faith.

“We regret to officially announce the abduction of our Priest, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ezema in his residence at St. Peter’s Catholic Church Rumi, on Tuesday 2nd December, 2025 around 11:30pm,” the Diocese of Zaria said in a statement.

“We call on all men and women of Goodwill to pray for the safe and quick release of our Priest and others from the hands of their abductors,” the diocese added. “Through the intercession of our Lady, the Mother of all Priests, and our mother, may our brother, and others return to us safe and sound.”

As previously reported by LifeSite, Christians in Nigeria have faced sporadic persecution since the 1950s, but since 2000 have suffered wave after wave of violence that has steadily become a genocide. Persecution of Christians in Nigeria began to spike after 1999, when 12 northern states adopted Sharia law. The rise of the terrorist group Boko Haram in 2009 marked a dramatic escalation in attacks. Famously, the group kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls in 2014; 87 of them are still listed as “missing.”

READ: Slaughter of Christians in Nigeria shows what happens when governments turn a blind eye

Recent attacks in Nigeria have included the abduction and even murder of Catholic priests and seminarians. In a July press release, the Diocese of Auchi in Edo State reported that several gunmen attacked the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary, killing one security guard and kidnapping three seminarians.

In August, Islamic militants attacked a Christian village, killing three and injuring several more, just two months after Islamists massacred over 200 people in the same area. The assault targeted a community that was nearly 100 percent Christian and consisted mostly of subsistence farmers.

READ: Muslim militants attack Nigerian Christian village just two months after killing 200

Findings published by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlight many of the state-sponsored attacks on Christians in the country. In its 2025 report, the USCIRF urged the U.S. government to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern.” It also noted that “the Nigerian government remains slow or, at times, appears unwilling to respond to this violence, creating an environment of impunity for the attackers.”

A 2025 Religious Freedom Report by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which surveyed 196 countries, also found that just under two-thirds of the world’s population lives in countries with “serious or very serious violations of religious freedom.”

Twenty-four countries, including Nigeria, were placed in the “worst” category in the report: persecution. The report notes that “organized crime is a key driver of persecution or discrimination” in Nigeria. It also found that persecution in Nigeria “results from a combination of authoritarian governance and religious extremism.”

READ: Nigerian human rights advocate: Cardinal Parolin is ’emboldening’ Muslim attacks against Christians

LifeSiteNews encourages readers to pray for the safety of Father Emmanuel Ezema and all Nigerian Christians.