SW News: Thousands of Nigerians gathered at the Good Shepherd Seminary last Monday for the funeral of the Catholic seminarian Michael Nnadi, who was murdered recently. Many priests were seen shedding tears as they mourned the death of their fellow brother. For the Catholic faithful in Nigeria, Br Michael is a martyr who bravely chose to follow Christ.,

During his homily at the funeral, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, the bishop of Sokoto, said that the persecution of Christians in northern Nigeria is as old as the modern Nigerian state.

He told the faithful to become more robust in presenting the values of Christianity, especially the message of love and non-violence, to a society which has little regard for Christians.

“We know that Michael’s strength will inspire an army of young people to follow in his steps. We will march on with the cross of Christ entrusted to us, not in agony or pain, because our salvation lies in the cross,” he said.

Michael Nnadi and three other students were kidnapped last month by armed militants from their seminary in Kaduna state. Although the others were released, the body of Michael was discovered on January 31st.