Wife of murdered deacon released, university student kidnapped
THE WIFE of the 60-year-old deacon of the First Baptist Church of Port-au-Prince in Haiti, who was shot and killed during her abduction by armed gunmen last Sunday, has been released after a ransom had been paid.
The head of the pastoral college of the First Baptist Church of Port au Prince, Josué Mathieu, confirmed the release of Marie Marthe Laurent Lafaille, the widow of Deacon Sylner Lafaille, who was killed while trying to prevent her abduction on September 26.
Reverend Pastor Mathieu said that while a ransom had been paid, he was not going to specify the amount.
The Office for the Protection of the Citizen (OPC) had “expressed its indignation and its anger” at the murder of the deacon, warning that no place on the French-speaking Caribbean Community country is safe.
“Churches, schools, universities, radio and TV stations, public and private offices, shops are exposed to the fury of armed bandits operating with impunity,” the OPC said in a statement.
Media reports said that Deacon Lafaille and his wife were about to enter the First Baptist Church of Port-au-Prince, near the National Palace, when they were attacked by heavily armed individuals.
WIDESPREAD PANIC
He tried unsuccessfully to prevent his wife from being kidnapped, but the gunmen shot him several times and took her. Inside the church, the attack and the gunfire caused widespread panic among the worshippers, with reports of many fainting and others seeking to hide.
Deacon Lafaille was rushed to the General Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Meanwhile, Johnny Jean, a student at the Faculty of Human Sciences at the State University of Haiti, has been kidnapped, with his abductors demanding a US$30,000 ransom.
On Thursday, the Central Directorate of Administrative Police (DCPA) said that over the past few weeks, members of the Haitian National Police (PNH) have launched several operations aimed at curbing the number of kidnappings in the country.
It said that in the latest operation against armed gangs of Croixdes-Bouquets and Tabarre, at least seven bandits were killed and several others wounded.
But the DCPA said it deplores the fact that many young people were engaged in criminal activities and that they were being deceived by “manipulators with a criminal vocation who call themselves Hougans and who make these young people believe that they are invulnerable and protected by ‘Loas’ (voodoo spirits) against police bullets, once integrated into gangs”.
Several countries, including the United States and Canada, have issued travel advisories urging their citizens not to travel to the country as political instability, crime, especially kidnappings, have increased.