Shock as Nigerian Catholic priest takes own life in US over fear of deportation
The U.S.-Nigeria Civil Society Coalition has issued an urgent, impassioned plea to the Trump administration to halt the forced removal of Nigerian nationals to a homeland where their safety cannot be guaranteed, and grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to those fleeing what local leaders describe as an active genocide.
According to the coalition, on July 2, 2026, the devastating weight of the immigration system claimed the life of Father Benjamin Okwy Madu, a beloved 54-year-old Nigerian Catholic priest ministering on the North Shore of Massachusetts. For five years, Father Madu served with vibrant, joyous faith as a hospital chaplain and parish priest for the Catholic Community of Gloucester and Rockport.
Father Madu’s legal stay on his R-1 religious worker visa was expiring. Under Presidential Proclamation 10998 and concurrent administrative directives enacted in early 2026, severe pauses and restrictions were placed on visas and benefit processing for citizens of 39 nations—including Nigeria. For foreign missionary priests, securing a renewal or a path to permanent residency became an impossible bureaucratic maze.
Faced with an unyielding departure deadline, and privately terrified of the targeted violence, assassinations, and kidnappings currently plaguing Catholic clergy in Nigeria, Father Madu suffered immense emotional distress. Weeks before his death, he experienced a severe panic attack. In a heartbreaking final newsletter to his congregation, he wrote: “My heart is broken, yet my joy remains… I will soon return to Africa, specifically Nigeria, my homeland… Circumstances beyond my control have warranted my time in the United States come to an end.”
Unable to reconcile his love for his flock with the terror of what awaited him at home, Father Madu took his own life just days before his scheduled removal. His death has left his American parishioners in deep mourning, angry at a rigid system that slammed the door on a holy man seeking refuge.
The coalition stressed that Father Madu’s terror was entirely justified. In Nigeria’s Middle Belt—particularly in Plateau, Benue, and Kaduna states—radical Islamist terrorists and armed insurgent militias are executing systematic, brutal raids on Christian farming villages. Over 50,000 Christians have been slaughtered and thousands of churches destroyed in recent years.
The previous U.S. administration had cleared thousands of displaced Christians, currently languishing in temporary refugee camps in Cameroon, for resettlement in the United States.
However, the current administration’s blanket visa freeze halted those resettlements entirely.
In addition Nigeria has effectively been placed under a strict immigration ban. Shockingly, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria continues to collect millions of dollars in non-refundable visa application fees from desperate families, only to issue blanket denials under the new policy.
The coalition further said, “The reach of this ban extends so far that it has silenced the very victims trying to testify before the American government.
“Recently, a video clip went viral globally showing Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo, a courageous regional chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Plateau State. Standing over the fresh graves of eight members of his congregation who had been hacked to death by terrorists, Rev. Dachomo wept openly, shouting directly to the camera for the United States to act.
‘I am tired of mass burials! … American Senate, you are watching what I am doing! … Please, tell Trump to save our lives in Nigeria!’
“President Donald Trump personally shared this viral video on his Truth Social platform, issuing a stern warning that the U.S. would cut aid if the Nigerian government failed to stop the slaughter of ‘our CHERISHED Christians.’
“Yet, when the U.S.-Nigeria Civil Society Coalition convened the ‘Save Nigeria Rally and U.S.-Nigeria Faith Heroes Award Gala’ in Washington, D.C., Rev. Dachomo was barred from attending. Despite the international attention and the President’s own awareness of his plight, the clergyman was denied a standard visitor visa at the U.S. Embassy due to the strict country-wide restrictions. He was left trapped in the very danger zone he was invited to speak about.
“The double standard is tearing families and communities apart. While the administration acknowledges the horrors on social media, the machinery of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to deport Nigerian Christians out of the safety of the United States and directly back into harm’s way.”
The U.S.-Nigeria Civil Society Coalition said it was making a direct, emotional appeal to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for:
“An Immediate Moratorium on Deportations: Stop the forced removal of all Nigerian nationals whose lives are at risk upon return.
“Grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS): Recognize the extraordinary conditions and humanitarian crisis in Nigeria by granting TPS, allowing law-abiding Nigerians currently in the U.S. to work and live without the fear of being sent back to a war zone.
“Review Visa Categories for Clergy and Victims: End the broad-spectrum visa denials that punish the persecuted rather than the persecutors.”
“We are asking for mercy,” a spokesperson for the coalition stated.
“America has always been a shining beacon of religious freedom and a sanctuary for the oppressed. Do not let bureaucratic bans become a death sentence for those who look to the United States for salvation.”
