01/02/2022 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – According to the Catholic News Agency, Father Luke Mewhenu Adeleke of the Diocese of Abeokuta was shot dead on Christmas eve while returning home from mass.
“He was shot in his car by unknown gunmen on December 24th in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, after saying Mass in Ogunmakin, about 50 miles east of Abeokuta, in Nigeria’s Ogun State,” said the news agency.
Sadly, clergymen are frequently targeted, kidnapped, and murdered in Nigeria. The government continues to deny any religious motivation behind the attacks and has recently convinced the U.S. Department of State to do the same.
In November, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken removed Nigeria from the State Department’s list of “Countries of Particular Concern (CPC)” for violations of religious freedom. This was done with no explanation and just three days before Blinken’s diplomatic trip to Nigeria to meet with the Nigerian President.
Please join us in praying for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria, for the Lord to strengthen the Nigerian church and heal His persecuted children of their trauma. Please also pray for the world to recognize the scale of the suffering that believers have to endure in Nigeria, as well as for the souls of those who persecute the church so that all will repent and find salvation in Christ.
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