Kaduna: Fast Becoming A City Where Religious Clerics Fear To Tread Over Kidnaps, Killings
The Oasis Reporters
August 6, 2019
As the Kaduna State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Reverend Joseph Hayab raises a fresh alarm over the rising cases of kidnapping of Pastors and other Christian leaders in the State, following the killing of Living Faith Church Pastor who was abducted and later shot by Kidnappers on Monday, alarmed residents note the fast notoriety the State is descending into in terms of religious freedom, the necessity and right to live in peace and security.
The Living Faith Church, Ungwar Romi, branch Pastor, Jeremiah Omolewa, who was allegedly kidnapped alongside his wife and son on Abuja-Kaduna highway last Sunday night has become the latest victim in the spate of kidnappings and killings, as it once happened to Agom Adara, the late paramount ruler of Adara kingdom, now assumed to be an emirate on one part owing to a demarcation.
The CAN Chairman, Hayab who condemned the development, lamented that Pastor Omolewa who was shot by the Kidnappers later died at the Barau Dikko specialist hospital yesterday.
Hayab, in his reaction to the kidnapping of pastors and other church leaders, Chris Joel, in Kasuwan Magani in Kaduna state, said “We are now an endangered species in the State, the federal and state governments have to intervene, and otherwise the church would start defending itself”.
He said, “Just within last week kidnappers have launched attacks against pastors in churches, their homes, highways and on the road”.
“There is a pastor’s daughter in Kudenda who was kidnapped and they are demanding for N4 Million naira as ransom. Now, we have a Living Faith church Pastor who has been kidnapped and killed. His wife is still in the custody of the Kidnappers. We are now expressing fears that this is a deliberate attack on pastors now, and a deliberate plan to now start kidnapping pastors in Kaduna,” he said.
He also stated that “So, CAN is worried that Kaduna kidnappers have turned their net on pastors in the State. In Kasuwan Magani, Reverend Chris Joe, on Thursday night, Kidnappers invaded his house. We have not seen government going after the kidnappers. Christian pastors are no longer safe in the State.”
“We don’t want to start defending ourselves and the church on the grounds of self defence. We still call on the federal and state governments to urgently intervene in the face of this senseless kidnapping of pastors and Christian leaders”.
Meanwhile, at the Living Faith Church, Ungwar Romi several mourners were seen trooping into the premises of the church.
One of the members of the church who spoke on grounds of anonymity said that “Pastor Omolewa travelled to Abuja after the Sunday church service with his wife and son.
“On their way back in the evening, they were kidnapped along Abuja-Kaduna highway. The Pastor was shot two times and he was rushed to St Gerald’s Hospital where he was referred to Barau Dikko hospital where he died.
“The Pastor’s Son escaped from the hands of the kidnappers. His wife is still with the kidnappers and they are demanding for N20 million ransom.”
BesIdes Christians, the Shiite Muslim group, led by Sheikh Ibrahim El Zakzaky have their horror story of killings, arrest and detention to tell, from the city of Zaria in Kaduna State.
The Abuja-Kaduna highway is now regarded as littered with kidnappers who pick motorists off the highways after forcing their vehicles to an abrupt halt. They are usually taken into the bush and released, only when heavy ransoms are paid.
