Persecution Watchdog is warning after a Catholic priest was reportedly accused of Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram.
Joel Verdkamp, head of international communications at Christian Solidarity International (CSI), told CBN News that Rev. Daniel Alfonsus Affina, 41, was filmed on June 1, 2025, during a trip from Mbi to Maiduguri. The CSI is urging the Nigerian government to “take urgent action” to secure his release.
Affina, a CSI partner, supported the organization in serving persecuted Christians in the region and was potentially targeted for his Christian faith.
“He is active in a Nigerian area called Maiduguri,” Veldkamp said. “This is truly zero for the Boko Haram terrorist movement, which has terrorized Christians in Nigeria for almost 15 years.”
He continued, “(Affina) is actually one of the CSI’s partners. He survives the Boko Haram attack and helps distribute food to people currently in evacuation.
Affina and his convoy were attacked with RPGs and rocket-propelled rena bullets, killing another partner during the invasion. The accused squad that took the priest along with him called the bishop and told him he had been accused.
“He has come to ask the bishop to pray for him,” Wöldkamp said he has never heard of it again from Affina since June 1st. “We have not heard anything, he is the 15-year-old or 16th priest or pastor who was lured in Nigeria this year.
Verdkamp and the CSI have issued an official statement denounced Nigerian President Bora Ahmed Tinubu of aiding, urging officials to take the situation seriously to deploy peacekeeping forces around Maiduguri.
Sadly, Verdkamp said the government often does little to maintain silence or to stop the tide of chaos and radical Islamic horror. He said that part of the reason could be due to accomplice.
“We believe there are numbers in Nigeria security facilities that have ties to Boko Haram and other Islamic terrorist groups operating in Nigeria,” he said.
Listen to the latest episodes of “Quick Start”
As for Affina, Beldkamp also shared that he is a new partner who returned to Nigeria from Alaska in 2024. He worked throughout the US state for seven years, but despite the dangers and risks to Christians, he was called to return to Nigeria.
“He chose to return to Nigeria and serve the people,” he said. “While he was in Alaska, he took special courses in counseling and treatment with the intention of helping Nigerians who had been hurt by these attacks.”
Persecution continues to be a horrifying issue in Nigeria, with almost half of the population being Christian and the other half being Muslim. Islamic extremism drives most of the murder and confusion, with the northern part of the country being mostly Muslim and experiencing the most intense anti-Christian sentiment and attacks.
“Nigeria is the most deadly place in the world and will become a Christian,” Veldkamp said. “Because of their faith in Nigeria, far more Christians are killed than any other country in the world.”
Veldkamp hopes the US will put more pressure on the Nigerian government. One such step in that direction is for the US Department of State to relist Nigeria to a country on a specific list of concerns, a list of countries with religious freedom restrictions. The Trump administration added Nigeria before the nation was removed under former President Joe Biden’s term.
As reported by CBN News, Nigeria has been consistently discovered by Watchdog as the most deadly nation for its followers.
“We have recorded the murders of around 10,000 Christians, mainly in the north and central parts of the country,” Isaac Six, Advocacy Advocacy Superintendent (GCR) of Global Christian Relief, told CBN News earlier this year. “And again, it is being led by systemic violence committed and led by groups such as Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa and subsequently the armed groups.”
Ultimately, Isaac said that American Christians need to understand the extent of their fear.
“American churches really have to hear how horrifying some of these stories are,” he said. “It’s not just violence. It’s not just murder. It’s cruel atrocities. And frankly, the church has to wake up to some of this. Only a small portion of American believers even recognize what’s going on.”
Other persecution trackers have also extensively documented the severity of the issue. Open Doors World Watchlist 2025 placed Nigeria in the rankings of countries where anti-Christian persecution and discrimination is the worst.
As the number of voices facing big technology censorship continues to grow, sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN news app developed by the parent company to keep you up to date with the latest news from a clear Christian perspective.
