*Photo: Late Rev. Fr. Benjamin Okwy Madu*
Rev. Fr. Benjamin Okwy Madu, a 54-year-old Nigerian Catholic priest serving in the United States, has died by suicide on July 2, 2026, in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, following extreme emotional distress over an order to return to Nigeria.
Internal emails sent by Boston Archbishop Richard G. Henning confirmed the cause of death to fellow clergy, though public announcements from the archdiocese avoided explicit mention of suicide.
Fr. Benjamin Madu, a priest from the Diocese of Abakaliki, Nigeria, has been serving as a hospital chaplain and parish priest in Massachusetts since 2021. He died just five days before his 25th ordination anniversary.
His R-1 visa was expiring, and due to 2026 immigration policy changes, he was required to return to Nigeria.
Citing alleged kidnapping and assassination of priests in Nigeria, Fr. Madu expressed profound terror about returning. He reportedly suffered a severe panic attack requiring hospitalization on June 14.
In a poignant farewell, he shared in a newsletter, he wrote “Sincerely, it is not my wish to return home right now… My heart is broken, yet my joy remains”.
Authorities, including the Massachusetts State Police, have ruled out foul play.
The US-Nigeria Civil Society Coalition and other groups are calling for a moratorium on deportations of Nigerian nationals and the granting of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to what they called the dangerous conditions in Nigeria.