Father Afina released from Boko Haram capture

By Diana Haecker |

Father Alphonsus Afina, a Catholic priest who has served parishes in western Alaska, has been released by Boko Haram captors, the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks announced on Monday, July 21.

According to the organization Aid to the Church in Need International, Father Afina is safe and unharmed.

He was released along with ten women, after having spent the last 51 days in captivity of the militant Islamic group Boko Haram.
According to Bishop John Bakeni, the Auxiliary Bishop of Maiduguri, Nigeria, Father Afina “looks a bit frail and tired” but seems to be in good health and emotionally stable.

He is undergoing medical checkups and he was to be reunited with his mother and family.

Aid to the Church in Need spokesperson Maria Lozana told the Nugget that the good news was confirmed “directly from the Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Maiduguri, with whom I had been in contact throughout this entire time.”

Bishop Bakeni said in a press release, “To the glory of God, Father Afina was released yesterday along with ten women at about 4 p.m. We were able to have him in custody, and he was handed over to us around 11:30 p.m., yesterday.”

Father Afina was abducted on June 1, 2025 in an ambush. Armed militants, including Boko Haram, are responsible for rising violence in Nigeria’s north and central regions, killing thousands of people and abducting people to ransom.

The Associated Press reported that Father Afina had been traveling from the city of Mubi, his current pastoral assignment, to Maiduguri. At a military checkpoint, his convoy was ambushed by armed men, with a rocket-propelled grenade striking one of the vehicles, killing one and wounding others.

Afina served in Alaska from 2017 to 2024 before returning to Nigeria, where he works with the Justice, Development and Peace Commission, a Catholic social justice group.

Bishop Bakeni emphasized that Afina’s release should be regarded as a true miracle, through the prayers, since not all kidnappings in the region end with such positive news. He also noted the unpredictability and danger of dealing with armed groups, which makes this outcome even more extraordinary.