Prelate Samuel Kanu Uche, the prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, who was abducted with others on Sunday along the Enugu- Port Harcourt expressway, has revealed that N100 Million was paid to the kidnappers for their release.
The prelate was traveling with Abidemi Shittu, a chaplain, and Dennis Mark, the Methodist bishop of Owerri at Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State was kidnapped by unknown gunmen.
Kanu disclosed this in a live interview with Arise Television on Thursday, June 2 where he recounted his ordeal in the hands of his abductors.
“I went for my apostolic duty as the head of the Methodist Church in Nigeria to induct the national officers of the Boys’ Brigade which we call the association of Methodist brigades that took me to Nneochi, I conducted the service, I did the induction and dedication.
“I was rushing to Owerri airport to catch up with my flight back to Lagos because I had an assignment to carry out yesterday. So as we were rushing we just ascended the hill from that white suit and we’re trying to descend to Leru in Umuchieze all in Abia State.
“As we were approaching three boys came out from the bush and pointed guns at us, they were all wearing black, and I said these are armed robbers, and our driver tried to speed up but they fired at our tires and the motor started somersaulting. Then their leader said, ‘I’m the commander-general of the forest and that we have fallen into their hands,” he explained.
The clergyman disclosed that their abductors told them that they are not armed robbers but kidnappers who kidnap for ransom. He said that they were told to cooperate so that they would not be hurt but if they tried to be smart, then they would be made to pay with their lives.
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The Methodist leader in Nigeria explained that their abductors were from the neighbouring countries such as Mali, Sudan, Libya, and Niger, but have lived in the country for years. And that the kidnappers took them on a journey for more than three hours in the forest before they began to negotiate the price for their freedom.
“So that was how it happened, they took us inside the bush in the first place and said we should walk barefooted; they took our shoes at around 10: 30.
“Remember this happened around 3:30 we were already in the bush and we were moving, we did not stop to rest until it was dark, so around 10: 30pm or so, they started asking about how much we can pay?
“ I said N10 million, and their leader said you are joking, the truth will come out when we kill one of you; you either say now the final negotiation or we kill you here nobody will know, he said N150 Million, so I said no 150 Million is humongous nobody can afford N150 Million,” he said.
He said when they threatened to kill the bishop, he had to intervene and a price was reached at which the Methodist Church made available for their release.
“I said to the leader how are you going to take the money, the leader said okay, we are going to take the money by ourselves,” he said.
According to the prelate, the kidnappers assured him that if they were tricked, he would command his boys to kill him but if he heard them say okay, then he could go.
“So we were praying, panting, and panicking, eventually maybe they counted the money in their five ‘Ghana must go’ bags for more than a good twenty minutes,” he noted.
He explained that within a short while three motorcycles arrived and we were packing the money tying and they zoomed off in batches to where they boarded a vehicle.
“A truck came with a number and they put in the machines, they are well coordinated, so it’s a network thing they have a network”, he stated.
Full transcript of Prelate Samuel Kanu Uche’s interview with Arise TV
I went for my apostolic duty at the head of Methodist church in Nigeria, I went for my personal injury to induct the national offices of the boys’ brigade which we call the association of methodist brigades that took me to Umunnochi conducted the service I did the induction the dedication preached the word of god I was rushing towards over the airport to catch up with my flight back to Lagos because I had an assignment to carry out yesterday, so as we were rushing we just ascended the hill from that white suite and we’re trying to descend to Leru in Umuchieze all in Abia state.
So as we were approaching three boys came out from the bush and pointed guns at us they were all wearing black they said these are I can help us and there were two and that time as our driver was trying to speed up ground two of them fired at our tires and the motor started somersaulted and some people came from the back, they positioned themselves in three and twos, eight of them, the leader said yes we have you.
He introduced himself, he said and I’m the commander general of the forest, I’m commander general of the forest from Lokpa, he mentioned the names accurately to Isuochi to Ihube to Isikwuato. I’m the commander general of this area, so anything happening in place, I am responsible I command the people these are my boys.
We are not robbers, we kidnap for ransom, if you’re able to pay us what we agree with you we set you free but if you don’t cooperate and pay us you just follow us we go to the gulley we show you where there are decomposing bodies and when we kill, we first cut off the head and throw head on the trunk of the body inside the very big gulley.
We were five, myself and in fact, I was supposed to be with the bishop at the back but because a minister, a communication officer would have been stranded and he had booked to go with us so we had to pick him, he was in between me and the bishop, my chaplain was in front and the driver now driving so all of us were moving together when this thing happened.
So the two young boys, the one in between me and the bishop and the other boy ran away, they were able to apprehend us so that was how it happened. They took us inside the bush, at the first place they said we should walk barefooted, they took our shoes, it was around 10 30. remember this happened around by 3 30 we were already in the bush and we were moving we had stopped to rest until it was dark so around 10 30 or so they started asking about how much can we pay the man said we can relax here a bit and negotiate how much are you going to pay I said N10 million, and they said, you are joking, you are not talking.
They said okay you continue, you talk the truth when we kill one of you, you will know, we kill you here nobody will know.
They asked us to pay N150million, and I said no, N150million is humongous nobody can afford N150million. The leader said, now say how much can you pay, I say let us beg our people to raise N50 million and then when I say N50million. They told my bishop from Owerri to lie down. They raise their knife to kill my bishop and said that they cut him and the blood will spill to my clothes I will know they are serious. And I remember that I have lived in the north and know that that type of knife they don’t cut anybody’s neck twice, just one cut, so I said no don’t kill him.
They said the least money you can pay us we will accept a hundred million. They said they are not joking, that they are sharing the money among ourselves eight of us and we have other people we have other people but he didn’t go into details he said we have many people that we share this money and that they have greats some people some of the boys I see I may get only 200 some may get there are people outside there who get in millions and I understood that they have sponsors normally they have sponsors I said he called somebody he called somebody their leader that leader said he was a Fulani, some of them from Sudan that about five of them were from is from Sudan about two of them there were from Mali and one of them was from Shonghai, some of them from Sudan, Mali somewhere but that they have lived in Nigeria for many years houseman and but unfortunately the mother and the father died leaving him and the siblings and that he is the one fending for the siblings so that we must spend that money if we don’t pay he will if we allow him to take matches now what he’s smoking here is ordinary cigar can I see it I said yes he has another dangerous one once he likes it and smoke that he will not understand whether am I an old man I said please don’t smoke that one he called the name I don’t know the name say if I smoke it now my eye will turn red and I can’t do anything again so I said please they told me I’m your father now let’s talk that’s the fact I want old man 500.
I respect your old days but don’t talk nonsense I say yes sir so that was how you have to happen until we walk to remember was a day by 3 30 we walked in one am one am 3 30 to 1:00 am check go around so we have worked for many hours and we’re already tired so that time we said um we will soon it’s a place where we were finally settled but they said bring why they should return my shoe to me my pair of shoes to the bishop that my boy should walk barefooted I said I want to kill the boy my chaplain he should have his own pair of shoes that they gave him so we moved we went there bless cross below I didn’t tell them I knew that so when we arrived there somewhere like they say golly stinking as if I don’t know only God knows what they put there but they told us that anybody that didn’t incorporate and I wanted to waste that time imperialism they will cut off the head and dumping my body inside that flesh it’s a massive goal so we sat near that place when the last episode he spent about 10 day up to uh 2 am he said okay let’s go to the final place we cross another road to old Ihube road we remember across the one from there we went to the bush across all the uber road again when the he be that’s where people normally say they release them so when we went there we were last we all sat down they slept and we slept I cut I used my hand to cut some shrubs of trees so we I slept until 9 00 am they say we should call I called the people and they said my people my people were gathered somewhere to shoot there was communicating them they got that my bishops those from Umuahia those from Okigwe, those from the supanto those from mutu and they got that song planning out they were communicating with Lagos them they said they had raised between 60 and 80 million cash i had them cash but that they were expecting 50 million collected in another center but the problem was how to bring it to notes because of hypoxia tattoo i said move don’t move ask lady man I told them something if the people see you speak a language they will understand they will allow you to pass it and tell them that your guys in the bush that’s what I told them your gut your god you’ve got the reference ministers your God the oga is in the bush they will give you away so they traveled from where they got the money to nudge they gathered the home money now 130 million I said okay I caught them eventually by three they said the money is intact I say bring out hundreds and give to this people that our life is most important wherever you borrowed money and whoever contributed after we are going to make reforms we will find how to make reforms because the church will always know how to uh gather mobilize and get money you know drops of water can make a mighty ocean my injury you know it was dark and they were telling me they pushed me I said no five foot fast I didn’t know there was a tree and by then my eyeglass had broken the other one so what I had was what useless on a tree why and I was blood gushing blood you know spilled on my shirt I was wearing blood so, I put one handkerchief all soaked all soaked because I knew all that one of them was using their thoughts behind me so all sucked with blood in fact the thing was like you soaked uh handkerchief water broad so I didn’t like this i mean I see I did as if I wanted them to see they didn’t give me care as far as I know those people value calm the human being so I removed the handkerchief threw it down one of them picked it and put it on the side of my coat I don’t know whether they think i wanted to use it for jiu-jitsu so I was using it soaked so I was moving and I took out another handkerchief fully shocked since they had they didn’t around me throw away that i want to put it the same place then I brought out another handkerchief then I said please excuse me what we used to do when we were little children I stopped and took the leash of one plant switch this with it now the water was not coming I spat into it no snow liquid i spat again and then liquid come out and use it miraculously the blood in the distance the bleeding stopped but there was serious pain and I said ah it was my reference and the visual I said sorry sir there ain’t even here eventually the money was okay the this i said how are you going to take the money the leader said okay we are going to take the money by ourselves I’m leading them two people will be here with you and what they were here is fire or goat if I say fire they will kill two of you know that the morning the people plan the tricks with us but if they if you hear okay you are you are you’re okay you can’t go so we were praying panting panicking eventually maybe they counted the money in their five gala more good twenty million there yes instructed they got the money towards the old road this Ihube Junction they came to us he’d be my people said within a short while three motorcycles arrived and were packing the money tying them one tied to one time one time two and a truck came with a number and they put in the massive they are well coordinated so it’s a network they have a network they carry the time zoomed off so the man left with them the people left with them until they told the other boys to release us so when they said we are free I said free where are we going to they say let’s show you the road they walked a little and showed us the road I was conversant with as a small child and I knew it was our route to my village and from uber you name was said you know when there was this creation of threats our kingwood division agreed that they will not all go into immortal it was an agreement part of us should go to Abia and get our sheikh but therefore should go to Imo and get our all comes a key way that’s what we have done so um went to going it was an agreement by our political elites so that’s why you are confused if you come there you may not know the difference between Imo and it was an agreement during the creation of states what they did to me had nothing to do with above you know pure nothing by flying herdsman we were there their cattles were very close there man by some people they were not turned into and I’m beginning to suspect that those who caught up people have heard are not really ebola evils are not known for cutting people’s heads but there were there are felonies children born in ebola you can’t differentiate them they went to school then their parents were a big man catholics their mothers used to fly a car with their car washing we bought it when we were young so they grew up there so they integrated themselves into this so actually that’s a shirl’s problem you know why you don’t start a problem is that when you start a problem you can just uh escalate
so there are different groups in Iboland now so there are also uh the IPOB hyperbols also divided into two somebody uh seceded from khan I’m not advocating for them but when car number Ghana started he was saying it is freedom fight don’t kill don’t just demonstrate however I’ve never been a member I’ve never been part of it and all I know is that animal as an evil man personally and if every new born that tells you that he’s happy in Nigeria he’s a liar not because we want to leave Nigeria I as an adam that’s a statement want united Nigeria but united Nigeria where there is equity fairness justice look at what is happening in the political or primaries they consider that no important man should be presidential candidate is it fair even if when it is the tone of it is to produce president they say no it can either go to not east or southwest or south is it fair so for me it is something you can negotiate not by killing nobody knew that Israel would become an independent become an independent nation nobody knew they were scattered here and there until 1945 when the state of Israel was pronounced and then they made that Tel Aviv the capital but the Netanyahu made it returnedly to Jerusalem supported by the trump administration you know history so whatever god has then will come to pass but for me I believe in the united Nigeria where there is justice righteousness equity fair plan I believe in that what we are looking for a nationalist once we get a nationalist who believes in Nigeria everything will be fixed but if you get somebody who whose interest is ebook Europe aflandi also he’s shaking it in rubbish we’ll go back to square one we get there in Nigeria for instance I’m not boosting if you after this interview ask at a cross section of Methodist I don’t know where you come from i believe in Methodist church Nigeria that’s what I believe and I see that church as a family so all the scholarships we gave to ministers to study we were not discriminated when there is opportunity for scholarship I will call the former host who do we give this for he may say this or that I said but that area has not gotten we made sure that our four pillars were represented we were forbidden as the middle church the south east extraction south side destruction uh southwest extraction not an extraction that was how we’re balancing our scholarships so nobody is grumbling when it comes to distribution of offices that’s what we do that was we promoted equities so that’s why I can post that I’m loved by everybody because I don’t play on tribal sentiments I don’t believe in ethnic children is if my people sometimes accuse me that i may sell out you are an evil mentor i said I said that what because I’m fair no I’m fair because of the kingdom of God not my I’m not looking at this flesh like I would have died if god was not with me supposing I died and Ibecame I was a tribalist you think I’m going anywhere heaven is not enough for any tribe or it need growth heaven is for those who are children of God I don’t blame any government too that I blame the leadership in government it’s individuals that wrong government if you see the bible says that when the righteous is in authority people do what rejoice but when the when the unrighteous is an authority people grown are you not groaning are you are you eating well do you have all the money you need are you prepared all the salary what is happening with ASUU what is happening with NASU, what is happening with the labour that means unrighteous administration I’m not a politician I’m not against APC nor am I against PDP nor labour party not any other parties but all I want is whoever is in power be he evolved I will say a job you remember me let there be justice let there be equity you know when they told us to look head down like this they were analyzing my passport my passport they were analyzing it and there may be they didn’t take the visas the visas that are used to the u.s they once was threatened they saw it there the visa I used to London they saw it they want to buy first they saw it they want to Dubai they saw it they want to South Korea they show it they want to various places so they must know that this man that travels outside the country must be somebody so they were analyzing the passports one by one they took my what they linked i bought when I went to Israel I bought that when they rang for 150 dollars so you could pure good they took it and they took my wristwatch my wrist was they took it my wrist was very costly this was they took my chain but life is more than that if you are alive you get every money in the pocket every morning every month every month any money they do and they will heartless when they say we can go they give us even 200 to get back nothing it does allowed us to walk like that is the worst humiliation and whatever we mess in life some of them are very stuck illiterates only one was communicating fluently and i guess that the way he spoke maybe he went to a level he went to a level above secondary school and that was the one that claimed that he was born at Uumahia if I said he was born at Abia and they had sophisticated yes ah you can’t look at their knife you can look at their guns yes but they when they went to collect the ransom they brought in more people with more people hidden somewhere with more guns people saw one boy at the front of the military checkpoints so our man wanted to harass him what are you doing here who are you the military said never leave him beside he came to drop something for us and he’s the same military that i normally said to people who go on from don’t cross if you cross this line will fire you don’t go inside the bush so why they why are they shielding the people why are they shielding them so the some people have planned to do something in this country let’s say plan there’s something they are planning but only God will foil it.
