A lack of security is impoverishing the Church in Nigeria, the bishop of Nigeria’s Sokoto Diocese said this week, noting that in the northern part of the country alone, more than 30 million naira (about €35,000) has been spent rescuing kidnapped priests, seminarians, and parish workers from Islamic militants.

Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah outlined the travails of his people in an interview with local media.

“We have had our churches burnt down, the killing of Deborah Emmanuel [a Nigerian Christian student who was murdered by a Muslim mob], our cathedral was almost burnt down, and my priests were almost killed,” Kukah said. “I have lost a seminarian, I’ve lost a priest; we have spent over 30 million naira, which we don’t have, to rescue our pastoral agents from kidnappers.”

The vocal bishop lamented the lack of support to cope with the situation in the embattled region, saying: “I cannot remember anybody from some part of Nigeria calling me to say ‘Bishop, we heard what has happened to you. What can we do, is there any way we can help, are you safe?’”

“We are all part of one body, when one part hurts, the rest of the body hurts, but we in northern Nigeria have the feeling that we are hurting alone,” said the 71-year-old bishop, who has been the local ordinary of Sokoto since 2011.