When your abductors knew you were a pastor, what were their reactions?
Yes, I did. I told them that I am a pastor with the Assemblies of God, that I am fondly called Enyi Jesus, a name given to me from heaven by my heavenly father. I also told them that I am the author of the book titled the ‘Efficacy of Blood of Jesus’, that I don’t have money. I was in Assemblies of God in Eneka, Obio/Akpor Local government before I was posted to Ubima in Ikwerre Local government Area of Rivers State. And after the introduction, they calmed down a little.
How did your kidnap happen?
It was on Wednesday, 3rd of August 2016. I got information that one of my members was arrested by the military while he was sleeping in his uncle’s house. To sympathise with them as their pastor I had to follow them to their family house at Omukpalukwu. When I got there, they told me that he was arrested at gunpoint. Immediately, I took my vehicle to search for him with other members of my church and that of his family were four. We went to some checkpoints of military officers on Omegwa and we reported to them. The captains called all his men to ask them if they arrested anybody; they said none of the officers participated in any raid in Ubima. Then I left there to Isiokpo in search of the arrested member of my church and they said the same thing that they were not aware. The officers at Isiokpo also went as far as searching their cells to see if he was there. We also went to the military camp at Elele. After searching round and we didn’t see him, I went back home to park my car. But towards the evening time, one of my church members called me that they found out where he was detained, and I took two members of my church to follow me. As we were going along Elele Isiokpo road, I saw some men shooting gun in front of my car. And when I looked back, I saw other men with pump action; then I applied the break because I didn’t want to run. When they came to me,I told them who I was; they dragged me out of the vehicle and took my phone, the other person gave me a sign that I should raise my hand. When the army heard the gunshot, they started coming but before they could reach there, they had already dragged me into the bush.
At that point, what did you do?
The first thing I did was to start speaking Ikwerre language to them because I knew some of them are Ikwerre boys, but they pretended and told me that they were not hearing what I was speaking. The next thing they did was to hit me with the head of the gun and blood started coming out. Then I shouted. I flashed my Identity card for them to know who they were maltreating.
Were you blindfolded?
They took me to the bush and that was where they told me they were kidnappers. I stayed there for fourteen days. They attended to me but I was still blindfolded. They told me they weren’t after me, but after politicians who handed the gun to them and I should pass the message. But since I was there, the only thing needed was money, they also took care of me by giving me water, food and clothing to prevent mosquitoes, we stayed there for a while waiting for the money from my church members but to no avail until my elder brother told them he had N300,000 which was in contrast to their initial agreement of N20m. They later asked for N10m which I told them was not possible. Even in that situation, I preached to them and some repented. Some said if they could get enough money, they would drop the gun and start a business. They asked me to bring whatever amount of money I had.
Did God reveal to you what was going to happen before the incident?
There had been a lot of revelations to me initially by God to preach to these people and I had seen it as a way through which God wanted me to save souls. But I didn’t know it would be through kidnapping because the thought of going to the bush to preach was not a welcome idea. And could only happen through kidnapping and even when I saw myself in the dream scoring goals which I told them that very soon I would win and God would send his angels to come with Bible. That is what I was ministering inside the bush and I even saw spilled blood and I told God I didn’t want bloodshed. And that I wasn’t after destroying souls, but saving souls and when I get out, I would not involve the police or army and would only allow God to do that which pleases Him because He doesn’t like bloodshed.
Why did you decide to be preaching to them to become good persons after all they did to you?
I went through rigorous sufferings, especially when they tied my hands, and there were times when we all went hungry due to the fact that the money expected was not forth coming. They complained bitterly and even threatened to waste me and asked what kind of God I served. Whenever their girlfriends called they would tell them that they were in the church with their pastor. Sometimes they would give me phone to preach to their girlfriends. And I pitied those girls because they didn’t know the kind of job their boyfriends are doing. Amongst the bad ones, there were also good ones, and they also asked for my forgiveness when they brought me out. They threatened to shoot my legs, and I said I would use my legs to preach the word of God. From there I started telling them about Bible. I am in charge of a local church and I told them that I didn’t have that much and what was in my account was not up to N30,000. There are ministers who have millions, which they confirmed when they saw my alert messages from my banks. I also told them how I used my personal money to do things for the church by buying them plot of land and fencing the church with my own personal money. Mind you, I stayed for fourteen days without the church (headquarters) raising money after promising to do so and some persons who may even know them (kidnappers) even called to ask them to release the pastor. I was released after raising the money which my wife went to deliver after being instructed to come alone and she was about eight months pregnant. When she came, they asked her what she was wearing and the people, who collected the money from her, covered their faces, took her phone and gave her the SIM card.