May Nigeria Never Happen To You – Actor Uche Odoputa Recounts How His Father Was Kidnapped, Murdered Despite Ransom 

Nollywood actor Uche Odoputa has opened up about the pain and trauma he and his family have endured since his father, Kenneth Odoputa, was kidnapped and killed in Imo State in 2022.

Naija News reports that the actor said his family paid ransom to secure his father’s freedom, but the kidnappers still killed him and his friend, Raphael Ojukwu.

In a statement posted on his Instagram page, Odoputa said the experience had changed the meaning of the popular expression about praying that Nigeria never happens to someone.

He wrote: “There’s a saying, may Nigeria never happen to you. For my family, those words carry a pain that is difficult to explain. A few years ago, my father was visiting his best friend in the eastern Nigeria when they were both kidnapped. At that time, I spoke publicly because we were searching for him. We were praying, pleading and hoping that he would come home. Our family paid the ransom yet my father and his friend were killed by their abductors.

“Behind those words are years of grief. Years of watching my mother live with the absence of her husband. While my siblings and I try to carry the loss of our father. You have seen me smiling, encouraging others. Alongside all that, I have been grieving.

“This experience affected my health and my well-being. My faith in God has sustained me and I am grateful to still be here. But the pain has been real.”