Five pastors of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) have been abducted around Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, on their way from Ondo State to a Minister’s meeting in Lagos.
At the RCCG, its General Overseer, Pastor E. A. Adeboye, was said to have called for prayers for the release of his pastors.
The abduction, which took place on Thursday but announced Friday, comes as priests of the Catholic Church marched through major streets in Enugu State, protesting the killing of priests, allegedly in the hands of herdsmen.
But in Enugu, after months of prayers took action: the men in cassock trooped out in their numbers, carrying inscribed placards and calling for action from the government.
Said Adeboye in Lagos: “As a father, how do you think I should feel to hear that five of my children have been kidnapped while on their way to attend the Ministers Conference?” the reports quoted him as saying.
Meantime, media reports said hundreds of priests were out urging the state government to urgently address the “rising insecurity” in Enugu.
They were at the state government house as well as the state police command headquarters where they dropped letters stating their grievances.
One interview quoted Benjamin Achi, communications director of the Enugu diocese, of pointing accusing fingers in the direction of herdsmen for the killing of priests.
“The rate of insecurity has gone out of hand and the government should rise to the occasion…the fulani herdsmen have been killing people repeatedly. The incident yesterday makes it third priest attacked in recent months.”
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Police Command has released the names of four abducted male and one female pastors.
They are: Chidioze Eluwa, Chiemela Iroha, Okoro Ohowukwe, Ndubuizi Owuabueze, and Ibeleji Chidinma (female), according to the command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abimbola Oyeyemi.
The police also said they have located the forest where the five abducted pastors were kept at the Ogbere – IjebuOde (Ogun State) stretch of the Lagos –Ore expressway.
He disclosed about 10 hoodlums, intercepted the commercial bus marked KW 230 XA in which the kidnapped victims were traveling from Abia State to Lagos.
He said the police had successfully “geo – located” the hideout of the kidnappers and was already working to storm the area.
