Some persons, believed to be members of the Oodua People’s Congress, have kidnapped a pastor with the Christ Apostolic Church, Onigbogbo, Atan Ota, Ogun State.
The victim, identified as Pastor Olusegun Omoniyi was said to have also gone into hiding after he was rescued by policemen from the Sango Area Command.
He said he feared for his life as the OPC members had threatened to recapture and kill him.
The OPC members were allegedly acting on the instruction of some relatives of Omoniyi’s late wife, Omolade, who had vowed to deal with him over the sickness and subsequent death of the woman, Punch is reporting.
According to the report, the victim and his wife married in 1999 and had a set of twins in 2000 but the kids died shortly after their birth.
It was learnt that since the death of the children, the couple had not been able to have another issue, a development that resulted in pressures from Omolade’s family.
Early 2015, the wife was reported to have left the cleric despite pleas from church leaders and relatives of the husband.
Omoniyi said, “She had told me that her family members didn’t want her to continue living with me, but I begged her to stay.
“However, sometime in 2015, I went for a church meeting when some of her family members came. They took away her property. Attempts at getting her family members to reconcile us were abortive as they said she had made her choice.
“However, in July 2015, I was told she was sick. On the instruction of the church leadership, I went with some other elders to give her N50,000. But her brother did not allow us to see her, saying I should go alone to see her. We refused.
“On February 6, 2016, while I was leading a church programme around 10am, four men entered the church. Two of them were OPC members and the others – Adebayo and Stephen – were my wife’s relatives. While I was on the altar, the two OPC members said they had come to take me away.
“I told them that I would not follow them since I did not know where they were taking me to. They beat me up and one of them showed me a gun and said if I didn’t cooperate, he would kill me.”
Omoniyi said he was thrown into a car belonging to his wife’s eldest brother, adding that he was blindfolded throughout the journey.
“In one of the rooms, I saw my wife on the bed. Her legs were swollen and there was blood all over the place. I asked her why she left the house and what I did wrong.
“While talking to her, my in-laws started beating me. I have never suffered such torture. I told my wife right there that God would judge our matter,” he added.
He said he sneaked into the toilet where he made a call to a church leader informing him of his location, adding that the latter informed the police who stormed the area and rescued him.
It was learnt that Omolade died the following day.
He lamented that his wife’s family had taken away his landed property and that his life was in danger.
The state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the case had not been reported at the command.
When DAILY POST contacted Segun Akanni, a personal assistant to the leader of the OPC, Gani Adams, he said no member of the group would be involved in such act.
“No no no, it is not possible. Our boys can never be that wicked. I have not seen the said report but I can assure you that it is not our boys,” he said.
Just 10 days ago, some landlords were kidnapped at Isheri, Ogun State. They have since regained their freedom.
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