The ransom placed on the founder of the Solid Rock Kingdom Church, Apostle John Okoriko, who was abducted on Tuesday, April 19, by gunmen at Ibekwe Akpan Nya, in the Mkpat Enin Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, has been reduced from 100 million to 30 million.
According to Punch, the gunmen made their way into the church compound through the fence. They shot into the air to cause fear on their victims before the pastor was kidnapped.
The attempts by policemen who were alerted and youths who joined in searching for Okoriko were abortive. This caused members of the church to be worried.
The eyewitness said, “Suspected gunmen came to the church premises after jumping through the wall and made their way to the sitting room, where they dragged the cleric away. They shot into the air to scare away their victims.
“The police were contacted almost immediately, and some of the police officers joined the youth in search of the missing pastor, but to no avail.”
The spokesman for the Akwa Ibom State Police Command, Odiko Macdon, confirmed the incident and assured that investigation would commence immediately.
He said, “We have received the report and the Commissioner of Police, Andrew Amiengheme, has ordered an investigation into the incident. As I speak to you, a lot has been done already. I want to believe that we will get to the root of it in no distance time.”
On Thursday, a family source said that Okoriko’s abductors reached out to them through their victim’s phone. Initially, they demanded a 100m ransom. However, his family could not raise the ransom which made his abductors to reduce it to 30m.
The family source said, “This morning again, the man of God called us and said his abductors were still demanding N30m. We don’t have such money. We are still begging them.”
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