Proof of life for kidnapped Nigerian priest received by Alaska diocese where he served

A kidnapped Nigerian priest, who previously served in Alaska, has managed to contact his home diocese, OSV News has learned.

Father Alphonsus Afina, assigned to several parishes across Alaska from September 2017 through 2024, was abducted June 1 along with an unspecified number of fellow travelers while in Nigeria’s Borno state, near the northeastern town of Gwoza.

Bishop John Bogma Bakeni of Maiduguri, Nigeria, has identified the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram as responsible for the kidnapping.

In a July 16 email to OSV News, Father Robert Fath, vicar general and vocation director of the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, said that his diocese had “received news through unofficial channels that Fr. Alphonsus is still being held in captivity but is alive.

“He is recovering from wounds on his legs which were the result of being bound very tightly when he was captured,” said Father Fath. “He was allowed to speak to his diocese via phone once again to confirm he is still alive.”

OSV News contacted the Diocese of Maiduguri, where Father Afina was ordained in 2010, but did not receive an immediate response.

Aid to the Church in Need, which supports the persecuted church throughout the world, previously told OSV News that it was in contact with the local church to determine the best way to secure Father Afina’s return, without “unnecessary delays” or any “indirectly increased ransom’s amount.”

The Pontifical Mission Societies of Nigeria also previously told OSV News that Father Afina’s diocese has asked the people of God to pray a novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help for his release.

Bishop Bakeni told The Associated Press June 8 that Father Afina had been traveling from the city of Mubi, his current pastoral assignment, to Maiduguri for a workshop. At a military checkpoint, his convoy was ambushed by armed men, with a rocket-propelled grenade striking one of the vehicles, killing one and wounding others.

The bishop said it was not clear if Father Afina was the intended target of the attack.

In June, Bishop Steven J. Maekawa of Fairbanks called for prayer, celebrating a Mass for Father Afina at Sacred Heart Cathedral, and writing a letter June 5 to the faithful. He referenced the Gospel account of the paralyzed man carried by friends through the roof of a house to obtain healing from Jesus Christ (Mk 2:1-12).

“We are a powerful people,” said the bishop. “Much like the men who make a hole in the roof to lower their friend through it to bring him to Jesus, we are able to bring those in need to our Lord Jesus with our prayers. Without the Lord we can do nothing. Great things can be accomplished by appealing to the love of God.”

Bishop Maekawa said Father Afina and all held captive “need as many people as possible praying for them and for their captors.”

A recent report from Fides Agency — the information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies — found that since 2015, 145 priests were abducted in Nigeria, with 11 killed and 4 still missing as of March.

“Please continue to pray for Fr. Alphonsus and all who suffer for the faith,” Father Fath told OSV News.