ECWA Reverend and Director, Jen Tivkaa Moses, Kidnapped by young Fulani men on 4th August on the highway from Jos to Abuja in Plateau state, was brought back to Jos
at about 1 am on Wednesday, according to a statement from leaders of the
Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA).
ECWA Church leaders would not say whether a ransom was paid to the
kidnappers, who had demanded one million naira ($US2,730), but church
sources told ViewPointNigeria that a payment was made to secure his
release.
Rev Ishaku Yaro, a pastor at ECWA headquarters in Jos, wrote a
Facebook post on Wednesday excitedly announcing the release of the
pastor, adding that special prayers were held for him at the residence
of the general secretary of the ECWA in Jos.
“Praise God we arrived in Jos safely with our CE [Christian
Education] Director at about 1am on the 9th August 2017,” Rev Yaro
stated. “Special prayers took place at the ECWA GS house, and he was
reunited with his wife. Please allow him to rest…Presently, he will be
somewhere resting for at least three days before coming back home.”
Pastor Moses was kidnapped by armed gunmen believed to be Fulani
herdsmen while he and his driver were on their way to attend a church
leadership seminar set for Saturday; the event was cancelled as a result
of the kidnapping.
Rev Dr. Jeremiah Gado, president of the ECWA, and Rev Yunusa S Madu,
ECWA general secretary, suggested “bad egg” police were allowing
Christians to be kidnapped.
“Considering the short distance between the police checkpoint and the
spot in which the pastor and other passengers were attacked by the
kidnappers, one would have expected a swift response by the police to
rescue them, but unfortunately they were helplessly abandoned in the
hands of the kidnappers,” they said in the statement.
“This scenario, like many others as have been attested to by many
residents along Abuja-Kaduna road, lends credence to the possible
collaboration of some bad egg police and other security personnel in the
increasing crime of kidnapping and armed robbery along that highway, or
how do you explain the fact that for all the period our pastor was in
the hands of the kidnappers, they neither changed position nor mobile
number, and yet the security agents were not able to apprehend or track
them.”
In recent days other ECWA pastors and members, including heavily
pregnant women and children, have been kidnapped by young Fulani men
along the Abuja-Kaduna road and subjected to various degrees of trauma
before being released after payment of ransoms, they said.
“Very recently, one of our pastors who had just regained his freedom
was held hostage for five days by some daredevil young Fulani kidnappers
who seized him along Jere-Bwari road, just 200 meters away from a major
police checkpoint on the curve bridge after shooting the driver of the
vehicle in which he was travelling,” they said. “We therefore use this
opportunity to call on the federal government to do the needful in
strengthening security of lives and property in the country, especially
in the country’s highways, through which many Nigerians ply in search of
their daily bread.”
They urged the Nigerian government to step up its effort to secure lives and property.
“The Evangelical Church Winning All is seriously worried about the
growing spate of insecurity and criminality in Nigeria which appears to
have overwhelmed the government and its security agencies, as nowhere,
either in home, marketplaces, workplaces, worship places and our
highways, are now safe,” they said. “Like many other Nigerians, members
of the ECWA are suffering the brunt of insecurity on our highways, which
have been taken over by armed robbers and kidnappers who kill, maim,
torture, rape, steal and extort outrageous ransoms from their helpless
poor victims while security agents look away.”
The situation is alarming, they said, alleging that cases of
kidnapping and armed robbery continue throughout the country on an
hourly basis against already impoverished citizens on the highways and
in their homes.
“The federal government should do more to closely monitor the
activities of security personnel on the highways and fish out bad eggs
among them who metamorphose into criminals on the roads,” they said. “We
recommend that the federal government should consider the payment of
ransom for kidnap victims where it failed to protect the people.”
Pastor Moses’ driver, Yohanna Maina, sustained a gunshot to his thigh
when the assailants shot into the windshield of the car as he neared a
police checkpoint. The captors released him late that night on the
highway.
The ECWA leaders said they will remain committed to praying for the
government “and all those in authority, for wisdom to lead justly in
accordance with God’s will.”
Predominantly Muslim Fulani herdsmen have launched numerous attacks on Christians in northern and central Nigeria.