End-of-the-road:
Devil lured me to kidnap a Catholic priest, I forced his family to pay me N1.5million cash for his freedom, will God ever forgive me? -Pastor Izuchukwu Anoloba, Apostolic Church of Christ in Lagos
… ‘I never knew I will be arrested. I regret my actions because I am now a disgrace to the body of Christ and my family’
*“The Lagos pastor and other kidnappers held the Catholic Priest for over seven days and made him to pay them a ransom of N5million. The syndicate was a deadly one. This said pastor was arrested in Lagos following intelligence gathering by men of the anti-kidnapping unit of the command”-Imo state Police Commissioner, Rabiu Hussain
*BY KELECHI ANAYO STEPEHEN/CRIME writer, Owerri
EVERYONE often blames the devil for every blunder they commit. IZUCHUKWU ANOLOBA, a man who calls himself a ‘Man-of-God’ and pastor of Apostolic Church of Christ, Lagos claimed he led the group of armed men that kidnapped a Catholic priest, Fidelis Ekemgba from Umunohu Amakaohia in the Ihitte/Uboma Local Government Area of the state, who was double-crossed and whisked away by his abductors.
The operatives of the Imo state police command foiled the kidnap operation and arrested Anoloba, 35, and others for kidnapping a Catholic priest, Ekemgba. Parading the suspects and others, the state Commissioner of Police, CP, Rabiu Hussaini, said that the suspects held the priest for over seven days and made to pay a ransom of N5 million to them.
The CP, who disclosed that the syndicate was a deadly one, explained that the pastor was arrested in Lagos following intelligence gathering by men of the anti-kidnapping unit of the command. He disclosed that the priest, 45, in charge of St. Peters Catholic parish was double-crossed and whisked away by his abductors.
Commending his men for an excellent job, the CP said that he would continue to make the state uncomfortable for criminals. Speaking to Journalists, Anoloba, said that he got N1.5m from the ransom the priest paid them.
He said, “I am a pastor with Apostolic Church of Christ in Lagos. I got N1.5 million from the kidnap of the priest. I never knew I will be arrested. I regret my actions because I am now a disgrace to the body of Christ and my family.”
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