Barely a week after three pastors of the United Church of Christ in Nigeria, otherwise known as HEKAN, were kidnapped, a serving Army officer, Colonel Samaila Inusa, has been abducted in Kaduna.
Colonel Inusa, whose abduction was confirmed by deputy director, Army Public Relations, 1 Division Nigeria Army, Col Abdul Usman, was seized and taken away at about 7:30pm on Saturday.
Col Usman, in a statement, explained that Col Inusa was a serving officer at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry in Jaji, Kaduna, and that his abductors kidnapped him at Kamazo Chikkun local government area, near NNPC junction, Kaduna.
The statement said his abductors dropped off his wife and left with him in his car and headed towards Abuja.
“They are in a Mercedes Benz GLK Black colour with registration number Abuja, KUJ 154 TZ,” the statement noted, and pleaded with any members of the public with useful information towards tracking the abductors to call the following numbers: 08033865572, 08030489203, 08023445961, 07038025282 and 08058130703.
Also, the general officer commanding (GOC) 1 Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade, has promised N500,000 cash reward for anyone with useful information that could lead to the release of Colonel Inusa.
1 Division spokesman, Colonel Abdul Usman, who disclosed this, however, assured that such information would be treated with utmost confidentiality.
Towards this end, he urged the general public to assist in whatever ways possible to ensure the release of the senior Army officer.
Three pastors of United Church of Christ were waylaid and kidnapped along the same Kaduna-Abuja expressway barely a week ago, on March 26, 2016. The kidnappers had initially demanded a N100 million ransom, but later slashed it to N10 million.
The clergymen, who were said to have gone to clear a piece of land the church had acquired over 15 years ago along the Abuja expressway, were kidnapped by about six gunmen wearing masks on their faces and armed with AK 47 rifles.
One of the clerics, Rev. Jubrailu Ibrahim Wobiat, who managed to escape the kidnappers, explained that they had gone to clear a piece of land preparatory to the foundation laying for the church’s proposed seminary.
He said, “We went to clear the land to start building our seminary school. We started the work on Saturday. We finished the work of the day and we were just about leaving. The vice president was to take off to Abuja; suddenly we saw men wearing masks and armed with AK 47 rifles.
“They were about six. They blocked the small access road leading to the main road as our president, his deputy and the other clergyman were driving out of the place.
“They ordered them out of their cars, but one of the drivers who was driving the vice president escaped and ran back to those of us who were still behind at the site to tell us about what had happened.
“We quickly abandoned our cars and ran into the bush for our dear lives and got to the expressway to the town. The police later escorted us to pick our cars,” he narrated.
According to him, the kidnappers had called to inform him on Tuesday that one of the clergymen was sick and directed them to a location where they would pick him, but that on getting there with the police, they could not see the sick clergy man.
“They demanded N100 million. They also told us that the vice president is sick and they described a location where we could pick him,” he said.
The three pastors are yet to regain their freedom.
[Leadership]
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