Michael Foust | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor  | Tuesday, May 12, 2020

A kidnapped seminarian was murdered by a Nigerian gang leader earlier this year because he would not stop preaching the gospel to his Muslim captors, the gang leader says.

Michael Nnadi and three other seminarians were kidnapped from the Good Shepherd Seminary in Kaduna, Nigeria, in January and held for ransom.

But Nnadi, who was studying to become a priest, preached to the gang members from the first day he was kidnapped. Sun News Online interviewed gang leader Mustapha Mohammed, who said Nnadi “kept preaching and told him to his face to change his evil ways or perish.”

Nnadi “did not allow” Mohammed “to have peace as he continued preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to him even when he knew they were not of the same faith,” Mohammed told Sun News Online. Mohammed “did not like the confidence displayed by the young man” and killed him.

The gang members initially demanded a N100 million ransom ($250,000 USD), although that later was reduced to N10 million ($25,000 USD). They targeted the seminary because they believed it would have lots of money.

Nnadi was the only one killed.

He was kidnapped Jan. 8, and his body found on the side of the road Feb. 1.

“These kind of kidnappings are becoming very common in Nigeria,” International Christian Concern reported.

Despite making ransom demands, gang members “still often end up killing the victims or holding them for years,” ICC said.

“Now that the Nigerian Government has a confession from one of the kidnappers, it is expected that he will be held accountable and all of those that he can identify will also be arrested and put into prison,” ICC reported. “If the Nigerian government fails to enforce even this basic law, they will show that they have no power or control over their country.”