A Nigerian Pastor was reported to be abducted by militants while preaching a sermon last May 10 in their church located at Akure, Nigeria.
The International Christian Concern reported that Pastor Otamayomi Ogedengbe was holding worship services at the Deeper Life Bible Church in Akura, Ondo State when Fulani militants came in and abducted him.
The abductors were armed and took Ogedengbe at gunpoint while the Bible study was ongoing in the church. The gunmen ordered the rest of those in attendance to "lie down" so they could take the pastor away.
The pastor's wife and a church member, Victor Charles, who were present at the scene when the abduction took place narrated what happened to the Morning Star News in a phone interview.
"The armed men shot their way into the church's building where the program was being held and took him away with a gun pointed at his head," she said.
"The herdsmen entered into the church's auditorium and went straight to Pastor Ogendengbe, who was preaching from the altar. They ordered us to lie down on the floor while taking away the pastor." Charles narrated.
Morning Star News said the abductors contacted the pastor's family only Thursday, May 13, for a "non-negotiable" ransom of 30 million naira (USD$73,600). Local police are working "towards securing the release of the pastor." Ondo State Command Police Spokesman Tee Leo Ikora said they are "optimistic that pastor Ogendengbe will be rescued by" their "security agents."
Deeper Life Bible Church is a denomination of the Deeper Life Christian Ministry, which has its international headquarters in Lagos. Established in 1973, Deeper Life Christian Ministry currently has 1 million members globally and is rated as the third among the fastest growing churches in the world.
Nigeria ranks second to Pakistan and trails after China, for countries where Christian Churches are attacked or closed. There are 270 closed churches in Nigeria, which also leads in the number of kidnappings done to Christians. According to the Open Doors 2021 World Watch List, there were 990 kidnapping cases of Christians in Nigeria last 2020 that pushed its ranking from 12th in 2019 to 9th in 2020.
Yawps Arena reported that the pastor's wife, Otamayomi, said "some boys" took his husband away after initially mistaking another him for another person.
She said that one of their members, after their Bible study, "collected the car key to park [the car] properly." Some "boys" immediately pushed him down from the car, but stopped short of taking him away after realizing he was not the one they were looking for.
Otamayomi said the kidnappers looked for her husband, and then took him away forcefully when they found him.
"They saw my husband and said he was the person. When we got outside, they started shooting and they pushed my husband into their car," she said. "We drove after them towards Irese road but they were shooting at us. It was dark; so, we stopped. Since then we have not heard anything from them (kidnappers)."
The pastor's wife appealed last Thursday to the local police to ensure the safe release of her husband. She also prayed that her husband would be brought back to their family, especially since "he is the only son of his parents." She also appealed to Nigerians to "help secure the release of her husband."
The Vanguard reported on Sunday that Ogedengbe was released by his abductors after his family paid the required ransom. Ogedengbe has already rejoined his family but declined to comment on the ransom.
The Vanguard added that Ikoro has not confirmed the information of Ogedengbe's release. He is currently confined in an "undisclosed hospital" following his release from the abductors.
