WOMEN IN AFFA COMMUNITY PROTEST IN THE RAIN FOLLOWING CHURCH INVASION AND ABDUCTION OF SEMINARIAN AND WORSHIPPERS

Deep distress and anger have gripped the Affa community in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State following a daring morning attack on St. Joseph Catholic Church in Inoyi, Affa, where armed men abducted a seminarian alongside several congregants during holy mass.

​In the immediate aftermath of the raid, local women gathered under heavy rains to protest the recurring insecurity threatening their households and agricultural livelihoods. Holding communal gatherings and crying out for help, the women lamented that kidnappings have become a near-daily threat to their children and families across Affa communities.

​The protesting women issued an urgent public plea to Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah, Senator Osita Ngwu (representing Enugu West Senatorial District), Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Uchenna Ugwu, and the Chairman of Udi Local Government Area to intervene immediately.

​"We are pleading with Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah, Senator Osita Ngwu, the Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, and the Local Government Chairman to help rescue the kidnapped victims," the women cried out. "Our children are being kidnapped every day in Affa."

​Community members continue to demand high-level security deployments, joint military-police tactical sweeps in nearby forest reserves, and permanent checkpoints along local access roads to track down the abductors, secure the safe release of the seminarian and worshippers, and restore public safety across Udi Local Government Area.