A Nigerian Catholic priest serving in the United States has died by suicide, days after he was directed to leave the country and return to Nigeria, where he had reportedly expressed fears for his safety.
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The Reverend Benjamin Okwy Madu, 54, died on July 2 at his residence in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, according to the Archdiocese of Boston, where he had served as a hospital chaplain and parish priest on Cape Ann since 2021.
Father Madu’s R-1 religious worker visa was due to expire on July 29. However, according to the Boston Globe, his home Diocese of Abakaliki in Ebonyi State instructed him to return to Nigeria ahead of that date for a new assignment scheduled to begin on August 4.
Reports indicate that the priest had repeatedly expressed reluctance to return to Nigeria.
In remarks to parishioners in June and in a farewell message published on his parish’s website shortly before his death, Madu acknowledged that leaving the United States was not his decision.
“Returning home was not my wish, but circumstances beyond my control have warranted that my time in the United States come to an end,” he wrote.
According to the Boston Globe, the Sunday before his death, Father Madu reportedly suffered a panic attack while driving to celebrate Mass and was treated at a hospital emergency room.
Boston Archbishop Richard Henning later informed fellow priests in an internal email that Madu had “tragically took his own life,” according to a copy of the message obtained by the National Catholic Register and reported on Monday.
The Archdiocese of Boston, however, did not publicly state that the priest died by suicide in its official announcement.
The Essex County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that Madu’s death remains under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police but said there was no indication of foul play.
Meanwhile, the US-Nigeria Civil Society Coalition has linked the priest’s death to the emotional strain caused by the prospect of returning to Nigeria amid growing insecurity affecting Catholic clergy.
In a statement made available to journalists, the coalition said Father Madu “suffered acute emotional distress and panic over the prospect of returning to a region where Catholic clergy are actively targeted for kidnapping and assassination,” while also citing stalled visa renewal opportunities under current US immigration restrictions.
“The terrifying reality of these rigid restrictions was made plain on July 2, 2026, when Father Benjamin Okwy Madu, a beloved 54-year-old Nigerian Catholic priest serving the North Shore of Massachusetts, tragically took his own life,” the coalition stated.
Born on May 15, 1972, in Nigeria, Father Madu was ordained at St. Theresa Cathedral in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. He would have celebrated the 25th anniversary of his priestly ordination on July 7, just five days after his death.
He had served in the Archdiocese of Boston for nearly six years under successive R-1 religious worker visas.
Archdiocese spokesperson Terrence Donilon told the Boston Globe that there was no legal pathway to further extend Madu’s visa under the current US immigration policy affecting Nigerian applicants.
The priest had openly spoken about his fears of returning to Nigeria, where several Catholic priests have been kidnapped or killed in recent years.
Arlene Lesch, a parishioner at Holy Family Church, said members of the congregation had appealed to political leaders in the hope that Father Madu would be allowed to remain in the United States.
Following his death, the US-Nigeria Civil Society Coalition, made up of Nigerian diaspora and Christian advocacy organisations, called on the US government to suspend deportations of Nigerian nationals and grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Nigerians currently residing in the country.
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