The diocese says Reverend Father Alphonsus Afina has been released from captivity, after he was kidnapped June 1 on his way back from a Sunday Mass.
Boko Haram, a terrorist group trying to create a separatist state in Nigeria since 2009, held Afina for 51 days. Boko Haram has burned churches, and harassed and murdered Christians and opposing Muslims. It also drew international condemnation for kidnapping 300 girls from a school in 2014.
Father Robert Fath of Fairbanks said the Diocese heard from various sources Monday, that Afina was safe at his home diocese in Maiduguri, Nigeria. But he says the Fairbanks diocese wasn’t able to confirm until that night.
“Yakubu Aiden, who is our priest out at North Pole, who's also from that same diocese, had gotten a message from their auxiliary bishop saying that he was safe and sound. You know, he's lost some weight, he is very tired from the ordeal,” Fath said.
Also Monday, Senator Lisa Murkowski said her staff worked with Ambassador Rick Mills at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, and other international agencies, to help secure Afina’s release. She posted on social media: “Welcome home, Father Afina.”
“Her office contacted us. They've been monitoring the situation and keeping up with different government agencies that have been keeping an eye on what's been going on for the last seven weeks,” Fath said.
Fath says its baffling that Boko Haram kidnap s and hold s people like Afina .
“We're elated that that Father Alfonso is free. But we're still encouraging people to pray because there's so many other people who are still being held in captivity, for nothing more than their faith,” Fath said.
"And there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason other than terror, for what's going on.”
Afina served in Alaska from 2017 to 2024, including Fairbanks, Nome, Kotzebue, Little Diomede, Teller, Saint Michael, Stebbins and Unalakleet .
“Primarily his six years were spent out on the Seward Peninsula, in those villages, but also, when he and Father Aiden initially arrived, they spent, about six or eight months here in Fairbanks as well,” Fath said.
"So, he's very well known around the diocese and it's just been amazing, the outpouring of prayers and support. Not just from Northern Alaska, but I mean all over the country.”
The Fairbanks Diocese announced in early June that Afina had been ambushed and abducted. Alaskans had very little information about his welfare for weeks.
KNOM in Nome reported last Friday that Afina was allowed to contact his home diocese in Maiduguri, Nigeria, to let them know he was alive.
And then on Monday, he and 10 women were either freed by his kidnappers or rescued by Nigerian Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Army. Reports in Nigerian and international Catholic media are inconsistent on that point.
Fath says before Afina returned to Nigeria, he was part of the very diverse Fairbanks Diocese that is representative of international Catholicism.
“There's 25 of us total. There's maybe seven of us that are American. But a majority of our priests are, are foreign nationals. We have men from all over Africa. We've got men from Poland, Korea, India who are serving here,” Fath said.
"And without them, we wouldn't be able to do the ministry that we do.”
Fath says of the 25 priests in the Diocese, seven are in Fairbanks, and the others serve in Yukon River, west coast or North Slope communities.
