Father James, who is also the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Jos East was said to have been abducted on Sunday night.

Some residents, who spoke to SaharaReporters on Monday, said the gunmen who were suspected to be Islamic terrorists stormed the priest’s house around 12:30 am.

One of the residents said, “The gunmen just arrived in the community at night, around 12:30 am. They shot sporadically and headed straight to the St Anthony Parish House where Father James is living and abducted him.

“Immediately, the youths of the community were alerted but efforts made to stop the abductors from taking him away were unsuccessful because the terrorists came prepared. Immediately they noticed resistance, they started shooting sporadically for several minutes before eventually taking him away.”

Another community source said that they had yet to hear from either the victim or his abductors.

“As I speak to you, we are only praying to God for His intervention, and hope that he is returned alive.”