₦airaland Forum

Bandits 'demand N100m ransom' per victim from families of abducted Kwara worshippers

Bandits who abducted about 35 worshippers from the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in the Eruku community, Ekiti LGA of Kwara, have reportedly demanded N100 million ransom for each victim.

On Tuesday evening, bandits attacked the church, killing some of the worshippers and abducting others.

A video of the attack, captured during a live stream, showed the worshippers conducting a service when sporadic gunshots were heard from around the church premises.

According to Punch, multiple family sources and community leaders confirmed on Thursday that the kidnappers have established contact with relatives using the phones of the victims abducted during Tuesday evening’s attack.


Josiah Agbabiaka, secretary of the CAC assembly, said some families had already been contacted by the abductors.

“It is true that the bandits have started contacting family members using the victims’ phones to demand ransom. From what we were told, they grouped the victims. The first group of 11 people has been asked to pay N100 million each,” Punch quoted Agbabiaka as saying.

Also, Olusegun Olukotun, the Olori Eta of Eruku, whose four family members were among those abducted, said the kidnappers were reaching out systematically

“Some people in the community have received calls from the kidnappers demanding N100 million for each person. They said the victims were grouped and they are calling each group’s relatives,” Olukotun said.

Olukotun, who was inside the church with five family members during the attack, said he escaped through a window while others were taken away.

Meanwhile, the traditional ruler of Eruku, Oba Busari Olarewaju, has appealed for urgent government intervention to secure the safe release of the victims.

The monarch commended the swift deployment of military personnel to the community following the visit of AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, governor of Kwara, on Wednesday but added that more efforts are needed.

“Last night, soldiers entered our community minutes after the governor visited. Their presence gave us some assurance that the government is responding. But we are still appealing that efforts should be intensified to rescue our people as quickly as possible,” the monarch said.

lilsmart:
And now, let this be the moment all those top men of God the Bishops, Apostles, and Reverends who have built empires on the offerings of the people prove their divine calling. You have amassed great wealth from your congregations, often untaxed and unaccounted for, all in the name of building the house of God. Well, a part of His house has been violently stolen, and His worshippers are priced at a hundred million naira each.

This is not the time for prayers alone it is the time for the greatest offering you will ever give. Open the vaults you say are meant for God's work and use that wealth to literally redeem the lives of His people. Since you have made yourselves the custodians of both the spiritual and financial life of your flock, then you must now be the ones to lead the charge in paying this ransom. There is no more direct work of God than this.

Make i hit the nail on the head.
When pastors and churches constantly flaunt their wealth buying private jets and exotic cars they are essentially painting a giant target on their congregations. They are advertising the church as a lucrative financial institution, not just a place of worship.

The most painful part is that it is the poor, faithful members who will suffer for this ostentation. The wealthy pastors are already shielded by tight police and private security. So, the kidnappers will logically target the vulnerable, everyday worshippers. They become the pawns because the criminals now believe the church has the money to pay. The poor are used as human ATMs, and their suffering is the price of their leaders' vanity.

Critical thinking everyone is entitled to his/her opinion

PlasmaTV:
You missed the point TOTALLY. Your hatred for pastors made you pen an off point epistle that has nothing to do with the subject at hand.

The church is not the government. Pastors are not your president.

What's even the correlation between pastors and kidnapping? Nah. You goofed. Big time.

Face your government and tell them to squash insecurity across board

All these fake rhetorics will not work.

lilsmart:
This one go long

Thank you for your perspective. Let me address your points directly and logically, without emotion.

First, you state that I missed the point totally and that this is about hatred for pastors. This is not about hatred it is about Accountability and cause and effect. The core argument is simple: when any institution (church or otherwise) publicly flaunts immense wealth in a society plagued by poverty and crime, it logically becomes perceived as a High Value Target. it's a basic principle of security and risk.

Second, you correctly say the church is not the government and pastors are not your president. This is not an either/or situation it is a both/and situation. We can, and must, demand that the government fulfills its primary duty to secure lives.(See biblical quotes for reference below )

Finally, you ask for the correlation between pastors and kidnapping. The correlation is economic incentive. If kidnappers believe an organization has vast, readily available funds (a perception reinforced by the public display of wealth by its leaders), they are more likely to target its members to extort those funds. The suffering falls on the poor members because they are the accessible targets, while the leadership is insulated by security.


Nathan to King David (2 Samuel 12:1-14): After David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed, the prophet Nathan did not remain silent. He directly confronted the king, famously declaring, "You are the man!"


Elijah to King Ahab (1 Kings 18:16-18; 21:17-24): Elijah repeatedly confronted King Ahab for leading Israel into idolatry and for judicial murder. He did not say, "The king is the authority, so I must be quiet." He declared, "You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals."

John the Baptist to King Herod (Matthew 14:3-4): John publicly condemned Herod for his immoral marriage, saying, "It is not lawful for you to have her." For this, he was imprisoned and beheaded, demonstrating the cost of speaking truth to power.

Jeremiah 22:3: This is a direct word to the king: "This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow." This is a divine job description for a government, and the prophet was the one delivering the performance review.


This is not fake rhetoric. It is a critical analysis of how different sectors of our society contribute to a complex crisis. We are all entitled to our opinions, and mine is that solving our problems requires holding everyone, not just the government, to a standard of responsibility.