South Sudan: Missing priest Father Luke and his driver declared dead

Paul Samasumo – Vatican City.

In an audio statement that News from the Vatican, Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of the Diocese of Tombura Yambio said it was with a heavy heart that he announced the burial of the priest and the driver.

Search for missing priest continues

“It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we inform you of the official funeral prayers for our priest and colleague, Rev. Father Luke Yugue, and his driver, Michael Gbeko, who went missing on April 27, 2024 en route from Nagero County to Tombura County. The funeral prayers will begin on Thursday, May 23-25, 2024, and will conclude with a funeral mass on Saturday (May 25, 2024) at St. Mary, Mother of God Catholic Parish,” the local Ordinary said, urging parishes in the diocese to observe the announced days of burial.

Bishop Kussala continued: “Since that grim Saturday, April 27, when Rev. Luke Yugue and Michael Gbeko disappeared, we have made so many searches to find them alive or dead, but unfortunately to no avail. Even in this time of mourning, we will not stop our search for truth and justice,” he assured.

Call for calm and not revenge

Bishop Kussala immediately appealed for calm and took time to discourage unilateral acts of violent revenge. He told the faithful of the diocese, friends and family that despite their pain and loss, they must hold fast to the principles of the Gospel and their faith and let the law take its course.

Bishop Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura Yambio in South Sudan

“Because of the brutal manner in which Father Yugue and his driver Gbeko died, many of us have cried out for vengeance. What is the Church’s position on this matter? The Church finds its answer in the Scriptures. In John 18:10-11, we read about Jesus’ reaction when Peter took his sword and struck one of the people who had come to arrest Jesus. Peter thought it was right to defend his master… As humans, many of us in situations like this believe that we can achieve a sense of justice and closure by taking the law into our own hands. In fact, the grief, anger, loss or contempt we feel for the perpetrator makes us believe that vengeance should be the best course of action. But the Church says NO to this,” the Bishop said.

Since Father Luke’s disappearance, social media has been full of political and ethnic insinuations about the two missing men. The fact that they disappeared in an area controlled by the SPLM-IO (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition) does not make matters any better. Observers also point out that many political parties in South Sudan are organized along these ethnic lines. The SPLM-IO is led by Vice President Riek Machar.

Military to calm region

Following the disappearance of Father Luke and his companion, Bishop Kussala asked South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit to intervene. On May 19, 2024, Bishop Kussala expressed his satisfaction that the President had sent Major General James Akech to bring peace to Tombura.

“I asked the president to declare a state of emergency in the whole of Tombura and the president sent Major General James Akech. This man is doing a good job. He is already disarming the people and now a sense of peace is returning to the area,” Bishop Kussala told the local diocese. Rurugene News.

The kidnapping of priests in Nigeria

Meanwhile, another Nigerian priest was abducted by unidentified gunmen this week. The abduction of Father Oliver Buba of Yola Diocese on May 21 follows the abduction of Father Basil Gbuzuo of Onitsha Diocese, who was abducted on May 15 last week.

First there were kidnappings by Boko Haram terrorists, and then came the so-called bandits, criminal gangs that use kidnappings to extort ransom.

Recently, Nigerian Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Diocese of Sokoto was quoted in the media as lamenting the exorbitant costs involved in rescuing kidnapped priests, seminarians and other pastoral workers. “We have no money left to pay the kidnappers,” the bishop is reported to have said.

To save their loved ones, ordinary Nigerians are selling land, houses and other valuables. Despite all the announcements made by several governments, the plague will not disappear.