My Abductors Took My Shoes And Demanded For Dollars. - Primate Akinola.

Primate Akinola.

These cases of kidnappings are getting out of control and is becoming a scary distractor to visitors to Nigeria, creating fear in the mind of the people.

Any gathering of Nigerians anywhere in the world especially during this festive period - the topics of conversation ranges from Obasanjo/Jonathan/Iyabo’s open letters to one another, to the issue of kidnapping, and general insecurity in the country, trust me - there are people who were hoping to visit home (Nigeria) for the holidays but were afraid to do so, citing cases of kidnappings,  both reported and those that goes unreported.

Imagine, a former Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Dr. Peter Akinola been kidnapped on Wednesday by armed men taking him and his driver into a forest in Ogun State where they took off his shirt, shoes and then demanding for dollars. See how he narrated his ordeal as reported by Sahara Reporters.

“I instructed my driver, Jonah, to open the door for them, they sandwiched us at the back of the car and they drove off. They told us to put our head down and that they would blow off our heads if we looked up. They drove for about an hour, where we don’t know until we discovered that we were in the midst of a thick forest. Then I requested to talk and informed them that there was no enough fuel in the car.

"They querried us for not having enough fuel in the car and my driver responded that we just returned from a journey. In the bush there, I was suprised at how they were able to locate a filling station, bought N3000 fuel and continued with the journey that was about three in the afternoon.

“They started asking questions about dollars, which I said there was none, i told them I was a village pastor that has just retired and that the car was given to me by the church. They asked about the security of the car and I told them there was none. They searched for it for almost two hours but couldn’t find anything”,he explained.

Akinola further stated,”I was just praying that God of mercy should come to our rescue; I was just remembering how God saved some believers in the Bible and I concluded that if I must die, how can it be in the hands of these people. Unknown to us, the news had started circulating around and people started praying. Meanwhile they have taken everything from us, they have taken my shirt, my shoes. I was left with my singlet and trousers, but my driver was not so lucky. His cloth, trousers and shoes were taken, he was left with boxers.

“They said i should walk on, when we moved about 100 meters from the car, I was asked to take the left while my driver was asked to take the right inside the bush. I was hearing how they were threatening my driver. After a while, we started hearing gun shots, apparently, the police were around. Later we learnt that the Governor himself with the Commissioner of Police, the secretary to the state government led the rescue team. When I couldn’t hear any more gunshots, I trekked back to the footpath shouting for my driver.

“Not quite long, I saw a vehicle coming, they approached me , I raised up my hands and told them it was my car they took and that am looking for my driver. They said they were police and they said I should come into the car. The leader of the police team, the State Anti-robbery Squad, they called him TJ, was a wondereful man, for the first time in my life,I doff my hat for the police for their performance.

“This same man, a muslim, approached me and said they have heard about what am doing that I should not stop, saying God has preserved my life for this purpose. He charged me to do more. “Right from Imasayi to Ayetoro and right to Randa, it was just beyond my imagination that I came back in peace, but was worried about my driver who I later found out was at the hospital”,he recounted.

Culled from Sahara Reporters.