A 54-year-old Catholic priest from Nigeria, Benjamin Madu has reportedly committed suicide in North Shore Massachusetts, United States.
The priest was found dead at his residence on July 2, 2026, days before his R-1 religious worker visa was due to expire.
Madu served as a priest at St. Ann and Our Lady of Good Voyage churches in Gloucester and St. Joachim in Rockport — all in the US.
This medium understand that his visa was due to expire on July 29 and efforts to renew it proved unsuccessful owing to the recent migrant restriction policies of US President Donald Trump.
To renew the visa, he was expected to return to Nigeria.
Also, in June, there were compassionate pleas from parishioners about the visa struggles of the Catholic priest.
NBC Boston reported that a source familiar with the situation said the priest took his own life.
Before his death, Madu had expressed fears about returning to Nigeria, describing the situation as “heartbroken”.
The priest is said to have told parishioners at St Joachim Church in Rockport during mass on June 21, that he was worried about what might happen to him should he return to Nigeria.
The media outlet reported that Madu, in a farewell post published on the church website, said he did not want to return to Nigeria “but circumstances beyond my control have warranted that my time in the United States come to an end”.
“My heart is broken, yet my joy remains. If I am ever given the chance to minister again to the people of Gloucester and Rockport, I would gladly do it all over again,” he wrote.
“I will miss the home I found away from home, a mother far from my mother, a father far from my father, and a people far from my own people.”
In a statement, the US-Nigeria Civil Society Coalition appealed to Trump to suspend the forceful removal of Nigerians from US to places where their safety is not guaranteed.
The coalition asked Trump to grant temporary protected status (TPS) to “those fleeing what local leaders describe as an active genocide”.
“The U.S.-Nigeria Civil Society Coalition is making a direct, emotional appeal to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio: An Immediate Moratorium on Deportations: Stop the forced removal of all Nigerian nationals whose lives are at risk upon return,” the statement reads.
“Father Madu’s legal stay on his R-1 religious worker visa was expiring. Under Presidential Proclamation 10998 and concurrent administrative directives enacted in early 2026, severe pauses and restrictions were placed on visas and benefit processing for citizens of 39 nations—including Nigeria.
“For foreign missionary priests, securing a renewal or a path to permanent residency became an impossible bureaucratic maze.”
