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‘They beat me, but I thank God I survived,’ says priest kidnapped by jihadists
August 13, 2025
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CWN Editor's Note: Father Alphonsus Afina, a Nigerian priest kidnapped and released by Boko Haram jihadists, discussed his experience in an interview.
“Armed men came out of the roadside bushes, shooting at us. In the confusion of the moment, I abandoned my vehicle and ran,” said the priest, who once ministered in Alaska. “The men started beating me, and as a result, I sustained an eye injury, with blood dripping from my face into my eye and running down my shoulder.”
“I felt the effects of the prayers offered for me all over the world in the way the armed men [of] Jama’at Ahl Sunna li Da’awa wal Jihad [Boko Haram] treated me subsequently,” he added. “I am, above all, grateful to God for sparing my life through this frightening experience.”
The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
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