Widow of Living Faith Pastor Regains Freedom

Says churches have Spent over N300m on kidnappers

Oluwakemi Omolewa, widow of the late resident pastor of Living Faith Church, Romi New Extention, Kaduna, Jeremiah Omolewa, who was killed by kidnappers along the KadunaAbuja Road, has been set free by her abductors following the payment of an undisclosed sum of money as ransom.

The late pastor was killed on Sunday by bandits while his wife was abducted as they were returning to Kaduna from Abuja.

Kaduna State chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Joseph Hayab who confirmed her release in an interview on Friday in Kaduna, said she was freed on Thursday night after a ransom was paid.

While lamenting the high rate of kidnappings in Kaduna State, Hayab disclosed that the church spent over N300 million on payments of ransom to kidnappers in last four years, while over 500 Christians were abducted within the same period.

He disclosed further that more than 20 churches, especially, those located in communities along the Kaduna-Abuja Road had been closed as people living in those villages had since relocated following the activities of kidnappers.

“In the past four years, Christians in Kaduna State have suffered a lot.

“Generally, people in Kaduna State have suffered a lot in paying kidnappers ransom to ensure the release of either their family member or church member or neighbour or someone they know.

“It is sad to know that the church alone, from our statistics -ECWA Church, Baptist Church, Anglican Church, Catholic Church and many other churches in Kaduna whose members have been kidnapped, have had to coughed out between N200,000 to N8 million to kidnappers to secure their release.

“In the last four years, the church in Kaduna has paid over N300 million to kidnappers,” the CAN Chairman said.

He said the most recent and embarrassing of such payments of ransoms was that of a pastor of Friendship Church Kudenda, a suburb of Kaduna which the kidnappers insisted that the N600,000 ransom they agreed to collect after negotiation, must be accompanied with cigarettes worth N10,000 !

He further recalled that in Kachia, a Reverend Father was abducted and a ransom of N1.5 million was paid but he was not released since three months ago, “an indication that he may have been killed”.

Hayab said further that: “In many of our villages along Abuja Road, people have abandoned their homes and relocated to places like Buwaya, Gonin- Gora, Romi and other suburbs around Kaduna metropolis as a result of activities of kidnappers.

“These are farmers, they don’t have any work, they keep coming around looking for assistance from us to pay rent and buy food.

“They are really suffering because no effort is being made to tame or put kidnapping activities in Kaduna State in check.

“Sadly, when we raised alarm that our people are being kidnapped, someone, instead of apologising to us and tell us that they have not done well, let’s work together to do well, they will go and sponsor some faceless young boys who are jobless and give them money to insult us.

“The recent alarm I raised about the killing of the late Omolewa and the abduction of his wife last Sunday, the next thing I saw (on Facebook), was a write up and a caricature of myself that I was speaking for PDP!