Police operatives in Ogun State on Thursday arrested two suspects, Ibikunle Opeyemi and Kadiri Jamiu, for allegedly kidnapping Pastor Mapai Samuel of ZOE Family International Church, located at Odo Eran area of Abeokuta, the state capital.
Opeyemi, the female suspect, was said to have connived with Jamiu and two other men to abduct the pastor after she claimed she was cheated by the victim during a business transaction.
A statement by the state’s police command spokesman, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the two men at large, who wore military camouflage, carried out the abduction alongside the lady while the pastor was preaching to congregants.
“The suspects, Ibikunle Opeyemi ‘F’ and Kadiri Jamiu M’ were arrested following a distress call received by policemen at Aregbe divisional headquarters, that two men who dressed in military camouflage accompanied by a woman invaded the church while the pastor was preaching at about 8 pm, and forcefully dragged the pastor out of the Church and took him away to unknown destination.
“Not quite long after taken the pastor away, the invaders called to demand for certain amount of money as ransom.
“Upon the distress call, the DPO Aregbe division, CSP Ikechukwu Gabriel and his detectives quickly embarked on technical and intelligence based investigation and discovered that the suspects were hiding somewhere around Adigbe area of Abeokuta.
“The DPO and his men in conjunction with men of Adigbe division stormed the hideout where the Pastor was rescued and two of the suspects were arrested, while the two men in military camouflage escaped.
“On interrogation, the woman amongst them claimed to have been in business relationship with the pastor, and that the Pastor cheated her in the course of the business which made her to contact the three men to kidnap the Pastor in order to teach him lesson,” the statement said.
Oyeyemi said the case had been transferred to the Anti-kidnapping Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department for investigation as ordered by the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, who also directed that other members of the gang must be apprehended.