9th October, 2019
Nasarawa state police has confirmed the abduction of a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).
Nansel Ramhan, spokesman of the state police command, who identified the pastor as John Egla said he was kidnapped by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in Lafia, Nasarawa state capital.
Ramhan noted that Egla was abducted at his residence in Shabu community on the outskirts of the state.
According to his report, the divisional police officer of Shabu reported hearing sporadic gunshots about 1:16am on Wednesday, adding that on reaching the location, the police team discovered that the gunmen had abducted the pastor, who was with his family.
Ramhan said the police found six empty shells of AK-47 ammunition at the scene of the abduction. He said the police had deployed a team to rescue Egla.
Falaye Omoniyi, a senior pastor of RCCG, who corroborated the police spokesman’s report, said Egla was the pastor in charge of the church’s Oasis of Life Parish, Nasarawa province 2.
Omoniyi said though nobody was hurt during the incident, the wife of the pastor and members of his family have been left traumatised.
He appealed to the police to double their effort in rescuing the pastor.
In August, five ministers of the RCCG were abducted on their way to attend the church’s ministers’ conference in Lagos.
The abduction took place along the Ijebu-Ode axis. They were later rescued unhurt by the police.