The Voice of the suffering in Africa

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International joyfully announces the release of Fr. Alphonsus Afina, a priest of the Diocese of Maiduguri, Nigeria, who had been abducted on June 1, 2025 by armed militants and spent 51 days in captivity. His release, along with ten women who were also held captive, was confirmed directly to ACN by local Church sources.  Speaking to ACN, Bishop John Bakeni, the Auxiliary Bishop of Maiduguri, Nigeria, expressed gratitude for the solidarity and prayers ...

Religious communities in Nigeria are facing ongoing, systematic, and egregious violations of their ability to practice their faith, says a US human rights monitor. A July 21 update from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) found that the Nigerian government’s enforcement of blasphemy laws and an increase in violent attacks by nonstate entities targeting religious communities “constitute significant restrictions on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB),” USCIRF’s new report stated. The report said that 12 Nigerian states ...

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) strongly condemns the violent attack perpetrated on July 10, 2025 against the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in Ivhianokpodi, Diocese of Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria. The assault led to the death of a security guard and the kidnapping of three seminarians.  According to the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, the attack occurred at around 9:00 P.M., when several armed men stormed the seminary compound and opened fire. Christopher Aweneghieme, a member of the Civil Defense Corps ...

Like the 9/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan, a public memorial park dedicated to the victims of a deadly Pentecost Sunday attack on a church in Nigeria provided consolation to those who lost loved ones. Now, for reasons that are still unclear, the Governor of Ondo State in southwestern Nigeria, decided to demolish the public memorial. The demolition was carried out earlier this week. On Wednesday, June 25, the Catholic Diocese of Ondo issued a statement saying that it has sought ...

The Mercedarian Sisters were the second congregation to suffer an armed robbery in a matter of days, as the violence in northern Mozambique steadily worsens.   The Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in the Diocese of Pemba, Mozambique endured a near-death experience on June 8, when the home they run was broken into by a group of men armed with guns and machetes.  The four sisters, who care for about 30 young girls, were robbed of all their valuables and ...

The priest in Nigeria who narrowly escaped with his life following one of the country’s worst massacres of Christians has spoken of his determination to stay and help the community rise again out of the ashes of persecution. Father Ukuma Jonathan’s latest interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) comes amid reports that the death toll in Yelewata, Benue State had risen to more than 200, with as many as 20 corpses recently discovered in a ...