The widow of slain resident Pastor of Living Faith Church, Kaduna, Oluwakemi Omolewa, has been freed by her captors.
Last Sunday, bandits attacked the Omolewas along Kaduna-Abuja road, killing Jeremiah, the husband of the abducted woman.
Kaduna state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria confirmed her release in an interview with TheCable on Friday, Joseph Hayab, he said Oluwakemi, who is a deaconess in the church, was freed on Thursday night after a ransom was paid.
While lamenting the high rate of kidnappings in Kaduna, he said in the past four years, the church in the state has paid over N300 million as ransom to kidnappers while over 500 Christians have been abducted within the same period.
He said more than 20 churches, especially; those located in communities along Kaduna-Abuja road have been closed as people living in those area have since relocated owing to the activities of kidnappers.
He said: “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.’’