Acnuk report that a priest kidnapped in Nigeria has described how his abductors were persuaded to set him free after witnessing his unswerving devotion to the Rosary.
Father Valentine Ezeagu was driving through Imo state on Tuesday (15th December) en route to his father’s funeral when he was ambushed by four armed men.
The priest was freed 36 hours later and, reporting his release to his religious superior, Father Ezeagu said the abductors had let him go after watching him pray.
Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) within minutes of receiving Father Ezeagu’s call, Father George Okorie, Superior General of the Congregation of the Sons of Mary, Mother of Mercy, said: “When I spoke to Father Valentine, he told me that seeing him saying his Rosary made his abductors confused.
“They started having a guilty conscience. It made them realise that, dressed in his soutane [priest’s cassock], they had not got the right person so they gave him food and released him.”
Saying that, as yet, there was no information about Father Ezeagu’s kidnappers, Father Okorie said: “We thank God who has really touched the hearts of the abductors. We pray for them.
“We pray too that they may have a conversion of heart and realise that kidnapping is not a business. It is devilish.”
Father Okorie described Father Ezeagu as a “very dedicated” young priest and said people all over Nigeria and beyond had been praying for his release, including the many students of the high school where the abducted priest is principal. Read more …