Nigerian priest who was kidnapped has been freed.

A Nigerian priest who was kidnapped after offering Sunday Mass March 1 has been freed, his diocese has reported.

“I have been reliably informed that Fr. David Echioda has been released by his abductors,” Nigeria’s Diocese of Otukpo said in a message to priests March 3.

“Thank you for your prayers and support during this trying time,” the diocese added.

Fr. David Echioda, who is assigned to ministry at Otukpo’s minor seminary, was abducted by gunmen as he returned to the seminary from his missionary outpost in central Nigeria, where he had been celebrating Mass.

The kidnapping is the latest in a series of abductions and killings in Nigeria which have involved Catholics and other Christians; clergy, seminarians, and lay people.

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja called on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to address the violence and kidnappings in his homily March 1 at a Mass with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.

“We need to have access to our leaders; president, vice president. We need to work together to eradicate poverty, killings, bad governance and all sorts of challenges facing us as a nation,” Kaigama said according to Naija News.