Evangelical clergyman arrested for organising kidnapping of Catholic priest in Imo State

EVANGELICAL clergyman Pastor Izuchukwu Anoloba has been apprehended by the Imo State Police Command for organising the kidnapping of Catholic priest Reverend Father Fidelis Ekemgba.

Pastor Anoloba, 35, and several others were paraded by the police as being members of a dangerous syndicate. Rabiu Hussaini, the Imo State police commissioner, said that the suspects held the priest for over seven days and made him to pay a ransom of N5m to them.

However, after the payment, Pastor Anoloba, was arrested in Lagos following intelligence gathering by men of the anti-kidnapping unit of the command. Confessing to his crimes, Pastor Anoloba said that he got N1.5m from the ransom the priest paid them.

Pastor Anoloba said: “I am a pastor with Apostolic Church of Christ in Lagos and I got N1.5m from the kidnap of the priest. I never knew I would be arrested and I regret my actions because I am now a disgrace to the body of Christ and my family.”

He disclosed that Reverend Father Ekemgba, 45, in charge of St Peters Catholic Parish in Umunohu Amakaohia in Ihitte/Uboma Local Government Area of Imo State, was double-crossed and whisked away by his abductors. Commending his men for an excellent job, the Imo State police commissioner said that he would continue to make the state uncomfortable for criminals.