Abducted Nigerian Clergyman Says Church Paid Ransom to Secure His Release

A Nigerian Christian leader admitted his church paid a $240,000 ransom to secure his release from unidentified kidnappers after he was abducted in recent days, Voice of America (VOA) reported on Wednesday.

Samuel Kanu-Uche, the prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, told reporters on May 31 that his church paid a ransom that successfully freed him and two other pastors kidnapped alongside Kanu-Uche on May 29. The group of clergymen was traveling by car in Nigeria’s southeastern Abia state on Sunday when their vehicle received gunfire.

“Eight armed men ambushed them on their way to the airport in Abia state on Sunday, shooting sporadically at their vehicle before taking them hostage. The clergymen’s driver and one other church member escaped the assault,” VOA reported on June 1.

“Kanu-Uche said the kidnappers showed them the rotted bodies of previously kidnapped victims who could not raise ransom payments and threatened to do the same with him,” according to the U.S. government-funded broadcaster.

Chibuzo Opoko, an archbishop who heads the Methodist church in Nigeria’s Abia State, told reporters on June 1 that he believed it was necessary to pay a ransom to secure Kanu-Uche’s release.

“They would not have released them if that was not done, it wasn’t the security that intervened,” he said, referring to Nigerian state security forces.

Nigeria’s government officially opposes the payment of ransoms to secure the release of kidnap victims, arguing that this action empowers abductors. The Nigerian Senate passed a bill in April that would punish people convicted of paying kidnapping ransoms with at least 15 years in prison. The legislation would further punish individuals convicted of kidnapping with the death penalty if the victim dies while abducted. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has yet to sign the bill into law.

The legislation, should it receive executive approval, would amend Nigeria’s current terrorism law.

Nigeria’s Senate passed the kidnapping bill as part of its effort to combat increased abductions and ransom demands by various “bandits,” terrorists, and criminals across much of Nigeria in recent years.

“How effective will that law be when security agencies are not doing their best?” Opoko asked reporters on June 1, referring to the kidnapping bill passed on April 27. He implied that Nigeria’s government has a poor public reputation for recovering abduction victims.

“Armed groups and criminals have kidnapped hundreds, possibly thousands of people for ransom across Nigeria over the last two years. UNICEF says the number includes at least 1,500 students abducted in northcentral and northwestern Nigeria since late 2020,” VOA noted on June 1.