Just over a year after extremists murdered more than 300 people in coordinated attacks targeting Christian villages in Plateau State, Nigeria, the faithful gathered for a special Mass to remember the victims last Sunday (5 January).

A priest, Fr Thomas Oyode, was kidnapped from the minor seminary where he worked last Sunday, and taken by armed bandits into the bush. Armed gunmen broke into the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary, in the Diocese of Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria, at around 7pm on Sunday evening and fired shots into the air, causing panic among students and staff, according to a diocesan statement sent to Aid to the Church in Need.

Aid to the Church in Need has committed to helping the Diocese of Maiduguri, struck by terrible flooding, with the provision of food, sanitation, medicine and shelter. The Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Maiduguri, in Nigeria, has issued an appeal for help in the wake of devastating floods that are affecting the city in northern Nigeria, through a video sent to ACN.