ABUJA, Nigeria ( Associated Press) – Gunmen have kidnapped the bishop of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, police said on Monday, in an incident that once again reflected the troubled security challenges in the West African nation.
Police spokesman Geoffrey Ogbona told The Associated Press that his accomplice Samuel Kanu Uche was abducted on Sunday along a highway in the Umunneochi area of Nigeria’s southeastern Abia state. Two other senior clerics were also taken hostage along with them.
Nigeria’s southeast has faced violent attacks and kidnappings in recent years, often involving unidentified gunmen. Authorities have accused members of the indigenous people of Biafra, a major separatist group, behind many of the attacks.
While there is no word yet from the kidnappers, Ogbona said, “we are trying to rescue him and the two other detainees”.
The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) condemned the kidnapping and called on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to “give a clear order to the security agencies to free them immediately and to stop the continued kidnapping of clerics and other innocent Nigerians.” “
The Christian Association said, “If a great servant of God of the caliber of Uch can be kidnapped like a three-year-old child on a major street without any resistance from the police, it speaks volumes about our security architecture.” “
Other political and religious leaders have also called for the bishop and many others to be released into captivity in Nigeria, where kidnapping for ransom has been a worrying trend.
“This is no longer a country that anyone can be proud of,” said Adebayo Oladezi with CAN. “No proper government can continue to leave citizens in a terrible state of insecurity as we are at present.”
