Gunmen free abducted church leaders after taking cigarettes, rice as ransom

The two church leaders abducted from Celestial Church of Christ, Oshofa, Wasimi, in the Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State penultimate week, have been released.

The founder of the church, Oluwatomisin Olugbebi, said the victims were released on Saturday.

Gunmen, who wore masks and fez caps, invaded the church and abducted the Assistant Shepherd (assistant pastor) of the parish, Oluwaseun Ajose, and a Sunday school teacher, Dagunro Ayobami.

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The gunmen had reduced their demand from N50m to N10m last Thursday.

But on Sunday, Olugbebi disclosed that the church leaders were released after a N1m ransom was paid.

He said, “They called on Saturday morning and demanded foodstuffs (rice, beans), cigarettes and gin. They said we should pay N1m for the two of them. I pleaded with them that we didn’t even have to that, but they said they wouldn’t accept anything less than a million.

“When we heard this, the family of the victims sat on how to get the money and they raised a total of N221,000. Thankfully, well-wishers and other church members balanced it up.

“They did not give a specific location where we should drop the money. They asked to speak to the sister of one of the victims and told her to come to a certain location. When she got there, she called them and they told her to give the phone to the bike rider.

“They told the bike rider their location without disclosing it to her. The bike rider then took her to the location where the money and the requested foodstuffs were dropped. After like 10 minutes, they asked her to come and pick them (victims) up at the bus stop.”

The Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, confirmed the release.

He said, “They regained their freedom last night (Saturday) due to sustained pressure mounted by the police on the kidnappers.”