A group responsible for the kidnapping and killing of a Nigerian trainee priest has admitted that they executed him because he refused to stop sharing the gospel while in captivity.
Michael Nnadi was abducted on 8th January from the Good Shepherd Seminary in Kaduna state along with three other students. While his colleagues survived, sadly, Nnadi was later found dead. Now, the alleged leader and mastermind behind the abduction has spoken out about his reasons for committing the atrocity. Mustapha Mohammed, a 26-year-old Fulani man, said he was part of a 45-man kidnapping gang that has attacked and abducted numerous people traveling along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.
Speaking to The Daily Sun, Mustapha said that Nnadi's incessant sharing of the gospel meant he "decided to send him to an early grave."
The report added: "[Mustapha] said the deceased kept preaching and told him to his face to change his evil ways or perish from the day he was abducted alongside his colleagues."
The suspect added that his gang targeted the seminary because they believed they could make good money by kidnapping people there. They initially demanded a ransom of $250,000 from the college, but this was later reduced to $25,000.
A member of the seminary staff called Nnadi a "young gifted seminarian" who was an "orphan brought up by his grandmother."
Over recent years, Nigeria's Christian community has been subject to increasingly brutal attacks at the hands of Islamic militia, with Open Doors listing the country at number 12 on its World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution for their faith.
