The sad story of slain seminarian, Michael Nnadi
Until his murder last month, few people knew about Michael Nnadi, the 18-year-old seminarian who was abducted and later killed by gunmen in Kaduna.
Nnadi was abducted by bandits who invaded their living quarters at the Good Shepherd Seminary, Kaduna on January 8. According to reports from the seminarians, the heavily armed gunmen gained entrance into the seminary in military camouflage and made away with phones, laptops, and three other seminarians: Pius Kanwai, 19; Peter Umenukor, 23; and Stephen Amos, 23.
The four young seminarians were at the beginning of their philosophy studies at the religious institution. Among the abducted seminarians, only Nnadi was murdered after being held in captivity for three weeks. The rest were released in batches until he was the only one left. His body was found on January 31, 24 hours after his abductors freed the third seminarian.
The pious teenager who was studying to become a Catholic priest was an orphan under the care of his grandmother.
He was a twin, who would have turned 19 on February 16 alongside his brother, Raphael. Although their family is originally from the southeast, they were living in Sokoto where late Nnadi spent most of his short life. He had three other siblings, Chukwuebuka, Francis and Augustine.
According to his twin brother, Nnadi was committed to becoming a priest so much that he took up a calling as a seminarian at the Diocese of Sokoto before proceeding to Saint Paul Spiritual Year Seminary, Gwaza, in Niger State. It was after his stay in Gwaza that he headed to Good Shepherd Major Seminary, Kaduna, for his philosophical training and formation.
He met his untimely death in just a year after arriving at the Kaduna seminary.
His brother disclosed that the seminary had paid his abductors an undisclosed amount of ransom, but they still went ahead to kill him. The bandits reportedly demanded between N20 Million to N50 million. It was after some payments were made that they started releasing the seminarians one after the other.
Raphael told Punch in an interview that they had been expecting late Nnadi’s return after the others were released only for them to see the picture of his dead body on Facebook.
“The picture with injuries on his body, black and swollen eyes, probably from torture, saddened me and made me ask endlessly, why upon his gentility, his killers were so heartless to torture him?” He explained.
Nnadi’s death caused a stir across the country and pointed to the alarming rate of insecurity that has been prevalent but largely overlooked by the government.
“The person that is worst hit is our aged grandmother, who has been taking care of us since the death of our mother, more than six years ago,” Raphael added.
Nearly two weeks after Nnadi’s murder, seminarians and people from far and wide gathered for his funeral mass on Tuesday, February 11, at the Good Shepherd Seminary where he was buried. The people were overwhelmed with grief as they tried to make sense of the loss.
The Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, in his homily at the service eulogized the humility and dignity of the late seminarian. He bemoaned the circumstances surrounding his death and called it a wake-up call for Nigeria.
“Michael [Nnadi] was only a Seminarian in his first year of training. I had seen him in his cassock which he wore in my presence, not with pride but with dignity. The national and international reactions to the death of this young man have made me step back and ask what message God has for our country. Nigeria is on the crossroads and its future hangs precariously in a balance. This is a wakeup call for us,” Bishop Kukah said.
“If his blood can bring healing to our nation, then his murderers will never have the final say. May God give him eternal peace,” he concluded.
Nnadi’s twin brother, Raphael vowed to preserve his memory: “I have made a promise that one of my children will bear his name and go into priesthood as a way to immortalize him, God willing.”
