Priest testimony that was kidnapped 51 days by Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria

On June 1, 2025, the Nigerian priest Alphonsus Afina was kidnapped, amid explosions and shots, by jihadist terrorists of Boko Haram. After 51 days when the fear of death was constant, it was released.

Thanksgiving from a bishop in Alaska

On July 23, just after the priest was released, the bishop of Fairbanks in Alaska (United States), Mons Thanks for your perseverance in prayers for their well -being and liberation. ”

The Nigerian priest served in the villages of the Seward Peninsula in Alaska between 2017 and 2024. There he also studied psychology and advice to found a victim care center – to which he has now joined – of Boko Haram, in Nigeria.

In his statement, the bishop said that “the grace of God manifested himself in the goodwill and effort of many people. Please, continue to pray for Fr. Alfonso while recovering from his terrible experience and remember all the faithful who suffer in captivity. Remember how the Lord works powerfully in the life of his children!”

A kidnapping between explosions and shots

In his testimony shared with the Pontifical Foundation Help the needy church (ACN)the priest tells that on the day of the kidnapping, while going from Mubi to Maidiguri with two members of his team, it was all very violent: next to his car exploded an explosive and “armed men left the bushes on the edge of the road and shot us. In the confusion of the moment, I left my vehicle and started running.”

“Other vehicles that were far from us turned around and entered the shooting between the military and the armed men. The latter persecuted us in motorcycles. They approached me and told me to stop me, pointing to me with a weapon. I stopped and lifted my hands,” he continued.

“It was hard for me to sleep for fear of being killed”

The jihadists took their two phones and forced him to unlock them, they also took their watch and cash. After ordering him to sit between two men armed in motorcycles, he was taken to his car, where they took their luggage and liturgical objects.

“The men began to hit me and, as a result, I suffered an injury in one eye. The blood fell down my face and ran by my shoulder. I had the swollen eye and suppurating for three weeks,” he said. Now he is waiting for surgery.

They uploaded it to his car and took him, along with other hostages in other cars, to the Gwoza mountain, in the jungle, where another shooting was produced between the jihadists and Nigerian soldiers. The armed men forced him, along with 13 other hostages, to leave the vehicles and set them fire.

“That day they captured us 14. Others escaped or were killed; among the latter, one of our team,” he said.

He was captive in a room with four other kidnapped, always guarded by the armed jihadists. “At three weeks of my captivity, there was a military operation with air attacks and artillery in the place where they had us retained. From then on, it was hard for me to sleep for fear of being killed and I continue like this while I write these lines.”

“I felt the effect of prayers”

“I felt the effect of the prayers that prayed for me around the world because of the way the armed men of Boko Haram subsequently treated me, he says.

“After this terrifying experience,” he concludes, “I am mostly grateful to God for saving my life.”