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Methodist Church Paid N100m Ransom for My Release – Prelate Reveals, Indicts Army
The Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, His Eminence, Samuel Kanu-Uche, who was abducted by hoodlums in Abia State, has said N100m was paid by the church to secure his freedom.
The cleric, who spoke during a press briefing in Lagos on Tuesday, said the kidnappers showed him decomposing bodies of some past victims.
Kanu-Uche was abducted on Sunday along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway in the Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State.
He was taken together with his chaplain, Very Rev. Abidemi Shittu, and the Bishop of Owerri, Rt. Rev. Dennis Mark.
The prelate said his team was going to the airport when they were attacked.
He said, “In order to catch up with my flight at 4pm, we took off by 2pm to go to the airport, oblivious of the fact that kidnappers were waiting on the road.
“As we were descending to Ileru in Abia State, they came out from the bush and divided themselves into three groups.
“Some were at the back, some at the centre. Then there was another group in front to make sure we did not run away. They fired shots at our vehicle and eventually abducted three of us. The communication man of the church and the driver escaped.
“They took us into the bush and tortured us. In the process of the torture, I hit my right eye on a tree and even when blood was flowing and was soaking my handkerchief, they did not feel like anything happened. All they said was that we should follow them.”
He noted that the eight-man gang was made up of “Fulani boys,” who claimed to be against the government.
The cleric said only one of the hoodlums understood English, while others spoke Fulfulde.
“They even said that if they get Buhari, they will chew him to pieces because he had disappointed them.
“We were taken into the bush and we trekked up to 15 kilometres. Eventually at 11pm, they said we should negotiate and each of us should pay N50m, making N150m,” he added.
He said when he tried to reduce the ransom, the gang threatened to shoot him, adding that their leader was about 35 years old.
Kanu-Uche said the men later pegged the ransom at N100m.
The cleric said he reached out to leaders of the church and his wife to raise the money by all means.
The prelate said he observed that military men were around the place where the hoodlums operated, while their cows were also around the vicinity.
“They pointed their guns at us. They threatened that if we involved the DSS, police or Army, they would kill us.
“They said down there, there is a gully of seven decomposing bodies and we cut off their heads. We also perceived the odour of killed human beings.
“Their leader asked for five Ghana-Must-Go bags for the N100m. He also said Lagos is on their radar.
“I am asking that the government should act now before another thing starts to happen.
“The Methodist church sent N100m for the three of us who were kidnapped. The money came from members of the Methodist Church of Nigeria. The Nigerian Army is complicit in the kidnapping,” he added.
His wife, Florence, while thanking God for the safe return of the cleric, implored the Federal Government to ensure the security of lives and property.
The Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, Lagos chapter, Bishop Stephen Adegbite, said it was the duty of the government to protect lives and property.
He said, “The Buhari government has a lot to do. This is a problem of leadership. The ransom paid was from the church and government does not have a hand in it. We don’t have oil wells and anyone who attacks the church, taking money is taking blood money.”
A security expert, Dickson Osagie, said there was a gradual shift of kidnappers from the poor to influential members of society.
He said, “We need to hold the government accountable. For instance, they meet bandits and pay them off. Each time you do this, they are satisfying criminality. The criminals want to excel in their business. They don’t need 10 poor people anymore. They can go for one big protected or unprotected target and strike.
“The administration of criminal justice should be more refined to show the kidnappers that kidnapping is a death penalty. There must be strict punishment. Otherwise there will continue to be a high rise of high profile victims. We could strike out the idea of negotiation but it won’t be the case if anyone of us is kidnapped. Negotiation can only be eradicated when we have a responsive and reactive security mechanism in place. Our security system is defeated. So if the government cannot protect you, you need to protect yourself to get out of these criminals’ dens.”
The Punch
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he has told US negotiators “not to rush into a deal” with Iran, amid anticipation — and mounting criticism — of an agreement to end the war in the Middle East.
“The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
“The Blockade will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.”
The United States has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports since April 13 after Tehran virtually halted traffic through the economically vital Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began February 28.
“Both sides must take their time and get it right,” Trump wrote in the same Truth Social post, while slamming the 2015 nuclear deal that former president Barack Obama agreed with Iran.
“Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one. They must understand, however, that they cannot develop or procure a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb,” Trump wrote.
While the White House has not released aspects of the deal, Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Saturday on state television that the two sides were nearing a “a memorandum of understanding, a kind of framework agreement composed of 14 clauses,” in “a trend toward rapprochement.”
Several voices, notably among Republican lawmakers close to Trump, expressed fears of an agreement favorable to Iran as supposed aspects of the deal that began to leak.
According to news outlet Axios, a possible agreement would extend the current ceasefire by 60 days, during which the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened, Iran would freely sell oil, and negotiations would be held on Iran’s nuclear program.
The top Republican senator overseeing defense policy, Roger Wicker, said that agreeing to a “rumored 60-day ceasefire” with Iran would mean, “everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught!”
Fellow Republican senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham also voiced opposition to Iran soon gaining benefits such as the ability to sell its oil freely.
“If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime — still run by Islamists who chant ‘death to America’ — now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake,” Cruz, a Republican from Texas, wrote on X.
Thom Tillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina, said the deal “doesn’t make sense to me.”
“We were told about 11 weeks ago by (Secretary of Defense Pete) Hegseth and the Department of Defense that they had obliterated Iran’s defenses, and it was just a matter of time before we had the nuclear material. Now we’re talking about a posture where we may accept the nuclear material remaining in Iran. How does that make sense at all?” Tillis said on CNN’s “State of the Union” morning program.
AFP
Adebayo Adelabu, one of the aspirants for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket in Oyo State, has alleged irregularities in the party’s governorship primary election held on Thursday.
Adelabu, who expressed dissatisfaction over the conduct of the exercise, stated that the primary was characterized by misconduct ranging from disenfranchisement of his supporters in some wards and the commencement of election process earlier than scheduled.
Speaking after the conclusion of the primary election at IMG School, Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government Area, the immediate past Minister of Power alleged that the process was neither free, fair nor credible.
He said: “Before our people started getting to their various wards, they have already conducted the election and they wrote the figures they want as results.
“In some wards, our people were prevented from voting. They were intimidated. They were chased away violently. And in some wards, voting did not take place at all.
“All this kind of misconduct is not good at this stage of our democracy in Nigeria, and something has to be done about it.”
Adelabu, therefore, vowed to come up with serious petitions against all the irregularities not just in Ibadan, but across all the five geopolitical zones in Oyo State.
“Also, conduct of many party executives is uncalled for, a lot of people bought forms and they were cleared. And they decided to conduct affirmation of a particular candidate in some wards.
“There was nothing like consensus arrangement. It was just a figment of their weird imagination. The instruction we got from Abuja was that we should all carry out free, fair, and transparent direct primary election where every aspirant will be given a level playing ground and the election will be conducted peacefully.
“Where did they get the idea of consensus candidates? And this is what happened in a lot of the wards. And it didn’t go down well with us. “We don’t want that. We are going to assess the gravity of this gross misconduct and the potential impact on the overall result of this election.
“I will put a petition forward to the appropriate authorities so that it can be deeply investigated and there must be consequences to this. The people who perpetrated this misconduct must be identified and punished. And the aspirants involved also need to be suspended because this is not good for us.
“Democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people where nobody should be disenfranchised. Once you are a party member, you should have that freedom, that authority to pick an aspirant of your choice as the flag bearer of the party.
“This is Ibadan, this is Oyo State and this the centre of politics in the southwest. And we should be able to lay good examples and the process should produce a candidate that won transparently, freely and fairly,” he said.
Meanwhile, at Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government, Adelabu, polled 430 to defeat his closest rival, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, who had 3 votes.
Al Nassr captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, has finally won the Saudi Pro League title.
They were confirmed champions on Thursday, thanks to a 4-2 drubbing of relegation battlers, Damac.
The title race had gone down to the final day after Al-Nassr dramatically dropped points against Al-Hilal the previous week.
Jorge Jesus’ side knew there could be no mistakes against a Damac side fighting for survival at the other end of the table.
Ronaldo was on the scoresheet, as his brace helped Al Nassr secure the title ahead of rivals Al Hilal.
