Nigerian pastor dies by suicide after receiving notice to leave US

A Nigerian Catholic priest who lived and served in Massachusetts, United States, Rev. Benjamin Madu reportedly died by suicide, a few days after receiving notice to leave the United States for his home country, Nigeria.

According to the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, the 54-year-old priest died July 2 at his residence in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, where he had served as hospital chaplain and parish priest in Cape Ann since 2021.

His religious worker visa will expire on July 29.

According to the Boston Globe, the Diocese of Abakaliki in his home country has gone further, instructing him to return to Nigeria ahead of the deadline, before his new assignment is scheduled to begin on August 4.

Madu has reportedly made it clear that he does not want to leave, and that he fears for his life if he returns to Nigeria.

In remarks to parishioners the previous month, and in a farewell message posted on his parish website days before his death, he said that returning home was not his wish, “but circumstances beyond my control have guaranteed that my time in the United States will soon come to an end.”

The day before his death, Madu had a panic attack while driving to Mass and was treated in a hospital emergency room, a parishioner told the Boston Globe.

Boston Archbishop Richard Henning told fellow priests in an internal email that Madu “tragically committed suicide,” according to a copy of the message seen by the National Catholic Register and reported on Monday.

The Archdiocese’s public statement regarding his death did not describe his death as a suicide.

Essex County Prosecutor Paul Tucker’s office confirmed that Madu’s death is being investigated by Massachusetts State Police, although a spokesperson said foul play is not suspected.

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However, the US-Nigeria Civil Society Coalition, in a statement sent to news agencies this week, said Madu “suffered acute emotional distress and panic over the prospect of returning to a region where Catholic priests are actively being targeted for kidnapping and murder,” while pointing to a frozen visa renewal process under current US immigration restrictions as a contributing factor to his death.

“The terrible reality of these strict restrictions became clear on July 2, 2026, when Father Benjamin Okwy Madu, a 54-year-old Nigerian Catholic priest serving on the North Shore of Massachusetts, tragically committed suicide,” the coalition said.

Madu, who was born in Nigeria on May 15, 1972, and ordained at St Theresa’s Cathedral, Abakaliki, in Ebonyi State, would have celebrated his 25th anniversary of the priesthood on July 7, five days after his death.

He has worked for the Archdiocese of Boston for nearly six years on consecutive R-1 religious worker visas, and his latest visa expires July 29.

The Boston Globe reported that Archdiocese spokesman Terrence Donilon said there was no way to extend Madu’s visa any further, citing current US immigration policies affecting Nigeria.

Madu has spoken openly about his fears about returning to Nigeria, where pastors have faced kidnappings and killings in recent years.