Gunmen stormed an Anglican Church in Nigeria’s Diocese of the Niger Delta during worship services on Sunday, abducting a member of the congregation
Gunmen stormed an Anglican Church in Nigeria’s Diocese of the Niger Delta during worship services on Sunday, abducting a member of the congregation. On 24 Jan 2016 kidnappers invaded St Stephen’s Anglican Church in the village of Igbedi in the country’s coastal Bayelsa State shortly after noon, local newspapers reported. A prominent member of the congregation, Duncan Eke — a petroleum engineer — was taken away at gunpoint. The church’s minister, the Rev. Ezekiel Obata, attempted to intervene but was shot and wounded by the kidnappers. He was taken to a clinic in the neighboring city of Yenagoa and is expected to recover from his wounds. A spokesman for the Bayelsa State Police, Asinim Butswat, confirmed that the incident took place and said the police were engaged in an intensive manhunt to find the kidnappers. Nigeria’s Delta region has been plagued by a wave of kidnappings in recent years by criminal gangs and political groups. The home of the Ijaw people, Bayelsa State has witnessed low level conflicts between Ijaw militants demanding a greater share of the region’s oil wealth and the federal government. Kidnapping for ransom has become a serious problem in the area. In 2013 the Archbishop of the Niger Delta Province, the Most Rev. Ignatius Kattey, (pictured) was kidnapped and held for ransom, but he was released unharmed.
