In a renewed onslaught against violent crimes in Aba, the commercial capital of Abia state, two suspects, Ogbonnaya Ugwumba and Kelechi Ugwumba have been arrested by the Aba Area Command of the Nigerian police over the kidnap of Pastor Emmanuel Agbesi of the Mountain of Fire Ministries, Aba.
Agbesi who heads the South East 11 Regional Headquarters of the church was abducted in Aba and taken to Owerri, the Imo state capital but later rescued by the police at the Onitsha –Owerri expressway.
A senior police officer at the Aba Area Command who confirmed the incident disclosed that the cleric was rescued same day with his car, a Gulf Saloon with registration number Lagos KSF281 AH, near the Coca-Cola depot along Owerri- Onitsha Expressway in Imo.
He said that the arrested suspects were children of the church’s landlord, who have threatened the members severally, including physical assault to the pastors.
Alhaji Usman Abubakar, the new Abia Commissioner of Police told 247ureports.com that he resumed duty on Feb. 19 and would get the details before making any public statement on the matter.
“I will get back to you. I am yet to get any report on the matter from Aba Area Police Command, but I will call them to find out,’’ he said.
Narrating his ordeals at the hands of kidnappers, Agbesi told 247ureports.com that he was on his way to the church on the day of the incident when he was waylaid by three men.
He said that he thought they were policemen and had to stop, only to be told to open the door which he complied and one of them entered the front, two at the back and asked me to drive on.
“While I was driving they hit me with their guns by the side that I should move, as we proceed on, I said where we are going, they said shut up and proceed. They asked me where the money is, I told them which money, did I have any agreement with you before on any money, and they said we know you have the money, so we keep going, they are the one directing.
“They already told me that if I make any noise or effort to stop them, they are ready to die and they will waste my life that I should try to cooperate, so we keep going,’’ he said.
According to him, on getting to the Umungasi area of the city, they asked him to stop; they searched him and everything taken away from him.
“I wanted to move they said no, I should come down and go to the back, one of them now drove and we started going, only to find myself along Owerri- Onitsha Expressway in Imo. That is how we headed through Owerrinta to Owerri, then Owerri- Onitsha Expressway at that Coca-Cola spot, and not too far they made u-turn and they were making phone calls but I don’t know who they were talking to.
“They now turned right immediately and swerved off the expressway and parked and asked me to come down. Then there was a coming vehicle with siren, one of them alerted others and for fear that the police was after them, one of them say let go after severally beaten me,’’ he said.
Agbesi said that he managed to come out of the bush and called his wife in the business phone booth, she then informed members of the church, who called to inform the police, they came and rescued me back to Aba.
On the arrested children of the church’s landlord, he said that the duo was found culpable in the matter by the police because on many occasions they have threatened members of the church.
“There have been several threatens that I will kill you, I will kill you from the children of the late landlord, who sold a land to us, that we are resisting them to enjoy their fathers property.
“They have harassed church members severally, the police was aware of their previous actions, especially Ogbonnaya who once came to the church to threaten the senior pastor with a cutlass. They have threatened us to give them money for the land and we did not transact any business with, but their father. On Sunday there are eyewitnesses in the church they were patrolling round the church, they were all in black, four of them, I saw one of my abductors on same black. I was the one ministering that day,’’ the cleric concluded.
