NSCEA MOURNS: Muslim Bandits Attack Niger Church, Burn Catholic Priest Rev. Father Isaac Achi To Ashes

Re: Muslim Bandits Attack Niger Church, Burn Catholic Priest Rev. Father Isaac Achi to ashes

Nigerian Supreme Council for Ecclesiastical Affairs (NSCEA) mourns with deep grief in sorrow, the demise of our beloved brother and father, THE MARTYR, the precious soldier of Christ, Rev. Father Isaac Achi of St. Peters, who was burnt to death as his house was set ablaze, for his faith on January 15, 2023 at about 0300hrs.

The news got to us again as usual as a very rude shock. The Nigerian Christians are endangered species in their own home country. What a shame!

In a report by Sunny Green Itodo on January 15, 2023,
“Muslim Bandits was said to have attacked Niger church, and burn Catholic Priest Rev. Father Isaac Achi to ashes.

“Very Rev. Fr. Isaac Achi, the priest in charge of St. Peters and Paul Catholic Church, Kafin-Koro in the Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State, has been gruesomely murdered by terrorists.

The Nigerian News gathered that bandits reportedly stormed the premises of the church along Daza Road, in the early hours of Sunday, and burnt the priest to ashes.

According to reports, the hoodlums also shot Fr. Achi’s assistant identified as Father Collins. He is said to be terribly wounded and was rushed to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

The Niger State Police spokesman, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday.

Abiodun said, “On 15/01/2023 at about 0300hrs, armed bandits invaded the Parish residence of one Rev. Father Isaac Achi of St. Peters and Paul Catholic Church, along Daza road, Kafin-Koro, Paikoro LGA.

“Unfortunately, the bandits reportedly attempted to gain entrance into the residence, but seems difficult and set the house ablaze, while the said Rev. Father was burnt dead.

“A colleague of the Rev. Father identified as Father Collins was equally shot in the shoulder while trying to escape from the scene.

“Police tactical teams attached to Kafin-Koro Div were immediately drafted to the scene, but the hoodlums had escaped before the arrival of the teams.

“The lifeless body of Father Isaac was recovered while Father Collins was rushed to the hospital for treatment.”

The PPRO said the State Commissioner of Police, CP Ogundele Ayodeji had dispatched a reinforcement team to the area and effort is ongoing to apprehend the assailants, adding that investigation has commenced.

Following the report, in a similar report by David Adebayo on Jan 17, 2023, pandemonium broke out on Tuesday in Kaffinkoro town in Paikoro council area of Niger State where the Catholic priest was shot and burnt to death on Sunday at the vicarage on January 15, following a protest.

At least, one person was killed, while two others were injured as the protesters razed the police station in the community.

Trouble started when scores of women and youths came together to pay tributes and pray at the burnt vicarage of the Catholic Diocese and also for peace to be restored in the hitherto peaceful community.

It was gathered that during the solemn assembly, a team of policemen from the Kaffinkoro division stormed the Catholic Diocese to provide security, but were rebuffed by the protesting women and youths chanting anti-police songs and throwing dangerous objects at the policemen.

The refusal of the police to leave irked the crowd resulting in protest and in a bid to disperse the crowd, a stray bullet hit a youth who died instantly, while two others were injured.

In summary, in the early hours of Sunday, terrorists had invaded the uphill official residence of Rev. Father Isaac Achi of Saint Peter and Paul Catholic Church in wee-hours, shot him and set fire to the house, as they waited to see the cleric and house burnt to ashes.

The bandits or terrorists invaded the community at 1.00am and began to shoot sporadically while heading to the residence of the Rev. Father Isaac Achi.

Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment. How does Christians deserve this kind of brutality in Nigeria! In a country that has a sitting government, Adesanya-Davies asks?

On the January 15, 2023 in a breaking news titled, Bomb has Killed Worshippers ln Church. “Information reaching Naija News House also says that, “Bomb Kills Worshippers In Church” – A bomb killed at least 10 people and wounded 39 others after ripping through a church in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday, an attack blamed on suspected Islamists.

Details of the attack are hazy, but Congolese military spokesman Antony Mualushayi said the “terrorist act” happened in a Pentecostal church in North Kivu province’s Kasindi, a town on the border with Uganda.

Bishop Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies added, the truth and fact are, while all the battles rage against Christians in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large by terrorist jihadits, and they are being persecuted, beheaded and slaughtered, the facts still remain that, THE MESSIAH (Al-Masih) is Jesus Christ. He alone is called the Messiah (Al-Masih) in the Qur’an. He is given this title eleven times and occasionally, he is referred to solely by this title without being referred to by name. Jesus is chiefly called the Messiah in passages that are alleged to have been revealed to Muhammad at Medina after the Hijra.

In Hebrew, the word Messiah means “the Anointed One”. It became in time a title for the one who was to come, the final herald of God’s salvation, the Redeemer of the world. Jesus Christ is also referred to as THE WORD OF GOD (Kalimatullah). Jesus is called “His word” in Surah 4:171, meaning the Word of God the Qur’an. In Surah 3:45, we also read that the angels said to Mary “Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary”. More than once in the Qur’an, He is also called A SPIRIT FROM GOD (Ruhullah). “Spirit of God” (Ruhullah). The expression in Surah 4:171, ruhun-minhu (“a spirit from him”) is used in exactly the same form in Surah 58:22

Finally, as I had always said, there is not a single verse in the Qur’an which recommends the forcible conversion of non-Muslims. In fact, the Qur’an does not agree with the idea of forcible conversions. Islam means ‘submission’ or ‘peace’. Not only has the Qur’an not demanded the forcible conversion of others, it has also declared that the practice of forcible conversion is, in itself, an abomination. “Let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out clear from error.” (Quran 2:256). Rather, Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Word of God, the form of God and the Spirit of God is the way, and the Christians are called the people of THE WAY. The Lord Jesus Christ answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6). We thank for the lives of our true and peaceful Muslims who believes thatJesus Christ is the Messiah, the message, the truth, the word and the life.

Bishop Prof. Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies
Secretary, Elders Council,
Nigerian Supreme Council for Ecclesiastical Affairs (NSCEA).