18-Year-Old Nigerian Seminarian Michael Nnadi Remembered 6 Years After Killing for His Faith.

Good Shepherd Seminary student was murdered in 2020 after urging captors to repent; Church leaders call him a “modern-day martyr”_

KADUNA, Nigeria— Six years after his death, Catholics in Nigeria and worldwide continue to honor Michael Ikechukwu Nnadi, the 18-year-old seminarian from Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna who was murdered in January 2020 after being kidnapped by armed bandits.

Nnadi was one of four seminarians abducted on the night of January 8, 2020, when gunmen dressed in military camouflage broke through the seminary fence, fired shots, and took the students.

The seminary sits along the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria Expressway, an area described as “notorious for criminal gangs kidnapping travelers for ransom”.

Three Freed, One Killed One seminarian was found alive but badly injured on January 18 and taken to St. Gerard’s Catholic Hospital in Kaduna. Two others were released January 31.

On February 1, 2020, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto Diocese confirmed that Nnadi had been killed.

“With a very heavy heart, I wish to inform you that our dear son, Michael was murdered by the bandits on a date we cannot confirm,” Bishop Kukah said.

The Rector identified his body the same day.

The bishop noted that Nnadi “and the wife of a doctor were arbitrarily separated from the group and killed”.

“He Continued Preaching the Gospel”

Mustapha Mohammed, 26, who identified himself as the leader of a 45-member gang operating along the highway, later told Nigeria’s Daily Sun from police custody that he killed Nnadi because the seminarian “continued preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ” to his captors.

Mohammed said Nnadi showed “outstanding bravery” and told him “to his face to change his evil ways or perish”.

Bishop Kukah relayed a similar account from police: “According to Muhammad, they had killed Michael because he kept asking them to repent and change their lives, letting go of their evil attitudes”.

Fellow abducted seminarian Pius Tabat recalled that Nnadi was killed on the second day he was supposed to lead the group’s novena prayer in captivity.

The alleged kidnappers and killers were apprehended by Nigerian police in April 2020.

Church Response: “He Paid for Our Freedom”.

Aid to the Church in Need expressed “great sadness and dismay” at the murder. At Nnadi’s funeral on February 11, 2020, Bishop Kukah described the moment as a “wakeup call” for Nigeria amid rising insecurity.

He reminded mourners of Christ’s command to “Pray for your enemy” and “Put back your sword”.

Fellow seminarians have since called Nnadi’s death a sacrifice: “He paid for our freedom,” one colleague said.

Nnadi, the youngest of the four abducted seminarians, was a native of Sokoto Diocese and a first-year philosophy student.

Agenzia Fides noted his case ahead of the 2021 “Day of Prayer and Fasting in memory of the Missionary Martyrs,” citing his killing as an example of witness unto death.

Today, many Nigerian Catholics cite Psalm 116:15 .“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints”.when remembering Nnadi. Church leaders continue to point to his example as a call to steadfast faith amid persecution in northern Nigeria.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.