Kidnap Epidemic Threatens to Paralyze the South South
By Ebere Inyama
(Delta) Six Worshipers at Elyon Paradise Ministry, Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, were on the night of Friday 21 February, 2025, kidnapped by armed Fulani ethnic militia.
The attack which took place at about 10 pm
left the pastor of the church, Divine Omodia, seriously wounded after he was shot in the thigh and two of his fingers cut off.
Narrating the incident to TruthNigeria, a member of the congregation said the vigil was strictly for church workers.
“I was lying down in the church hall while some men were outside with the pastor of the church when suddenly we heard gunshots,” said Mrs. Alice Obodi to TruthNigeria.
“The bullets were flying in different directions in the church auditorium. The gunmen came into the church and forced everyone in the church building out,” she said.
“The women inside were all marched out of the church building and made to lie down outside. They then left with some members and ordered the rest of us to go back into the church building,” Obodi went on to say.
“One of the church members freed by the gunmen raised an alarm when she saw the pastor lying on the floor in a pool of blood. The bullets had cut off two of his fingers, and he was also shot in his leg,” she added.
“We rushed him to the hospital because at this time, he was saying that he is feeling weak. He had lost much blood. Three of the four invaders carried guns while one of them was armed with a dagger,” Obodi said.
“They communicated with each other in Fulani language,” she added.
Police confirm kidnap of six worshipers in Delta
The Delta State Police Command, at the weekend, confirmed the invasion of the Elyon Paradise Ministry in Ogwashi-Uku Community in Aniocha North county of the State by gunmen.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Delta State, Bright Edafe, who had earlier told journalists on Saturday evening that there was no incident of such nature in Ogwashi-Uku Community, later sent a message via his Whatsapp to Business Day, confirming the incident.
Residents accuse state government of misplaced priorities
Six months earlier, on August 26, 2024, Delta State Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori had gotten pushback from civil servants (government employees) in Delta state when he urged them to embark on subsistence farming to mitigate hunger that is ravaging the entire country.
“Where is the security?” they queried?
“We know that cost of farming is huge these days, from land to labor and other resources but the greatest threat is insecurity.
“Our farms are no longer safe for us to work in, and that has largely affected the volume of farm produce that would have had their ways to the markets,” they said.
Insecurity in Delta State at Apex in 2024
On 9 July, 2024, armed Fulani militia stormed Okpe-Abavo, Ika South County of Delta State, killed a 55-year-old farmer, Mr. Friday Jegbefume, kidnapped his wife and later demanded a ransom of $13,422 before they would release her.
Three weeks later, precisely on 30 July, 2024, gunmen kidnapped the wife of the attorney general of Delta State, Mrs. Joan Onyemaechi, while she was attending a Bible study in a Church in Asaba, the capital of Delta state in an attack that left her driver and a policeman dead.
Earlier on July 14, 2024, Traditional Rulers of the Anioma ethnic nationality in Delta State had raised the alarm over dare-devil operations of kidnappers who abduct farmers and other residents for ransom.
In a communiqué jointly signed by the Chairman of the Traditional rulers, Dr. Emmanuel Efeizomor 11, and the Vice Chairman, Dr. Henry Kikachukwu 1, the monarchs decried the rising cases of kidnappings in the state.
“We are alarmed at the devastating menace of insecurity in the land to the extent that our people no longer go to the farm for fear of either being killed or kidnapped.
“Our women are being constantly raped and abused by criminals who have taken the thick forest and bush as their place of abode,” The communiqué read.
Ebere Inyama is an Imo State–based conflict reporter for TruthNigeria.
