In a chilling repeat of past horror, gunmen invaded the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in Ivianokpodi, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State on the night of July 10, killing a security officer and abducting three seminarians.
The slain officer, identified as Mr. Christopher Aweneghieme of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), was on duty when the attackers stormed the seminary compound under the cover of night.
The assailants fired shots, overpowered the security, and abducted three teenage seminarians undergoing priestly training.
This marks the second attack on the same seminary in less than a year. The October 2024 incident saw the kidnapping of the Rector, Rev. Fr. Thomas Oyode, and the murder of another seminarian. While Fr. Oyode was eventually released, the earlier promises of justice by government authorities were never fulfilled — and now, the blood has returned.
The Catholic Diocese of Auchi, under the leadership of Bishop Gabriel Dunia, has condemned the attack and called for urgent government intervention. In a strongly worded statement, clergy and lay leaders decried the rising vulnerability of religious institutions and the “systemic failure to protect sacred spaces.”
In a searing public commentary, Fr. Dr. Okhueleigbe Osemhantie Amos described the attack as “a war against the Church’s tomorrow,” warning that repeated assaults on seminaries are not isolated crimes but a psychological war on the moral backbone of society.
“This is not Sambisa Forest. This is a house of prayer, not a battlefield. These boys are being shaped to be priests, not prisoners,” he said.
Security experts are now raising concerns over the pattern of targeted attacks on Christian institutions in Nigeria’s North-Central and South-South regions, especially those that are remote and under-policed. Many say the recurrence points to a deliberate attempt to destabilize religious communities and disrupt moral formation.
The state and federal governments have yet to release detailed statements on the incident. There has been no report of arrest or rescue as of press time.
The attack has drawn widespread anger, with civil society organizations calling for immediate security deployment to the seminary and a full investigation into the repeated breaches.
Fr. Amos, in his call for action, declared: “Bandits are not ghosts. They live among us, use phones, buy fuel, and eat food. They are traceable. But the government must be willing to trace them.”
He added that Nigeria must choose between preserving its sacred spaces or watching them turn into graveyards of silence and shame.
As prayers intensify across churches in Edo and beyond, many Nigerians are asking the same question: how many times will evil knock before the sanctuary is finally defended?
