Pastor, Ten Others Escape Abduction In Kogi

An attempted abduction of a pastor and some members of his church during the weekend was reportedly nipped in the bud after the intervention of security operatives, Naija News reports.

It was gathered that the presiding cleric of the United Evangelical Church (UEC), New Layout, Lokoja, Kogi State, and ten members of the church were returning to Lokoja after attending a wedding in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State when some gunmen attacked them on the Ajaokuta-Itobe road at the weekend.

A source who reportedly spoke to Daily Post on the development explained that the bus conveying the church members came under gunfire on the route but that it was by the help of God that they were miraculously saved from the kidnappers.

“They fired several gunshots on the direction of the driver, but miraculously, God did not allow any of the bullets to hit him,” the source noted.

According to him, some of the travellers received gunshot injuries, adding that they were treated in a hospital in Lokoja and discharged.

Confirming the attack, the state’s police spokesman, SP William Aya, told journalists that the incident was an attempted kidnapping that was nipped in the bud shortly after men of the command got wind of it.

He explained that the police and the military swung into action and engaged the hoodlums, which forced them to escape, and all the passengers were rescued.