The Catholic Bishop of of Ekiti Diocese, Most Rev. Felix Ajakaye, has said no ransom was paid by the church to the kidnappers of Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Akingbade before he regained his freedom on Tuesday.
The priest was kidnapped by three gunmen in Ido Ekiti on June 9 in his bedroom at the Mission House of St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, Ido Ekiti around 8pm and taken to an unknown destination.
Confirming the report to journalists in Ado Ekiti, Bishop Ajakaye said the abductors demanded N200 million.
He said the demand was rebuffed.
This, he said, was because the church was not a profit making organisation.
Fr. Akingbade is the Parish Priest of St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, Ido Ekiti and Assistant Director of the Legal Department of the Diocese’s Justice Development and Peace Initiative.
The bishop said: “This morning (Tuesday, June 16) we thank God we saw him.
“God did it and I thank everybody for their prayers because we rely on God, we believe in God and God can do anything.
“But we told our people not to abuse the abductors because we wouldn’t want the abductors to be cursed and we want things to change for the better in our state, the state of honour and Nigeria as a whole.
“What happened to Fr. Akingbade happened to every member of the Church.
“So all over the world people were praying.
“They were even threatening that they would kill him and I told them that on the day he was ordained he had sacrificed himself.
“But we were still negotiating.
“They asked me how much we could afford.
“I said even one kobo we cannot afford.
“We thank God, God took control.
“We told them we would be praying, that we would not even curse them.
“I told them that they should know that they are children of God, that Father should be released unconditionally, that we are not paying them.
“I pray that what has happened to Fr. Akingbade would put an end to all these nonsense in Ekiti State, particularly abduction.
“If a Catholic priest could be abducted in his room, then nobody is safe.”
While lamenting the sad experience the church went through during the priest’s incarceration, Ajakaye described abduction and other vices plaguing the country, particularly Ekiti State, as “menace that must be fixed.
“This thing must be addressed and all of us must speak against it.
“It is unfortunate that what we had not experienced before in Ekiti is now happening.
“But must we keep quiet?
“No.”
Ajakaye the security operatives must be well equipped to be able to tackle the various challenges confronting the country.
When our correspondent visited the bishop’s residence on Tuesday, sympathizers, including the pupils of St. Joseph’s Nursery Primary School, led by their teachers and Rev. Sisters were seen jubilating.
Our correspondent was unable to get the reaction of the police as at the time of filing the story as repeated calls put across to the Police Public Relations Officer, Alberto Adeyemi, were not picked.
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