A former Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Dr. Peter Akinola, who was on Tuesday abducted in Abeokuta, yesterday recounted his ordeal in the hands of the gunmen who abducted him, his daughter and drive.
The clergy man said that the armed men took them into a forest where they took off his shirt and shoes and then demanded dollars.
Akinola,who spoke to a congregation during a Christmas service in Abeokuta, said that his daughter, driver and himself, were rescued because of God’s benevolence.
The retired cleric added that he had gone to the secretariat of the youth training centre he established in Abeokuta to give Christmas presents to the workers when two armed men appeared and whisked the three of them away .
He said that in the forest, the gunmen insisted that he must give the dollars in his Sports Utility Vehicle.
Expressing surprise at the rate with which the news of the incident spread, Akinola added that Governor Ibikunle Amosun and the state Commissioner of Police, Ikemefuna Okoye, personally led the search for their rescue.
“I left my house at about 11am (on Tuesday) for our site where we are building structures to train young people in Nigeria who are unemployed. The irony of it is that as I was coming out of the place where I had gone to give food to our workers for Christmas, two young men came out of their car from nowhere. They asked me to open the door, knocking the glass with their guns.
“I instructed my driver, Jonah, to open the door for them. They sandwiched us at the back of the car and they drove off. They told us to put our heads down and that they would blow off our heads if we looked up. They drove for about an hour, where we didn’t know until we discovered that we were in a thick forest. Then I requested to talk and informed them that there was no enough fuel in the car.
“They queried us for not having enough fuel in the car and my driver responded that we just returned from a journey. In the bush , I was surprised at how they were able to locate a filling station, bought N3,000 fuel and we continued with the journey. That was about 3pm.
“They started asking questions about dollars but I said there was none. I told them I was a village pastor that had just retired and that the car was given to me by the church. They asked about the security of the car and I told them there was none. They searched for it for almost two hours but couldn’t find anything.
“I was just praying for God of mercy to come to our rescue. I was just remembering how God saved some believers in the Bible and I concluded that if I must die, it must not be in the hands of these people.
“Unknown to us, the news had started circulating and people had started praying. Meanwhile they had taken everything from us; they had taken my shirt, my shoes and I was left with only my singlet and trousers. But my driver was not so lucky; his shirt, trousers and shoes were taken and he was left with only his boxers.
“They said I should walk; when we moved about hundred metres from the car, I was asked to take the left while my driver was asked to take the right. While inside the bush, I was hearing them threatening my driver.
“After a while, we started hearing gun shots. Apparently, the police were around. Later, we learnt that the governor, the commissioner of police and the secretary to the state government led the rescue team. When we no longer heard any gunshot, I trekked back to the footpath calling my driver.
“Not quite long, I saw them approaching me, I raised my hands and told them it was my car that they took and that I was looking for my driver. They said they were policemen and that I should come into the car.
He commended the team which, according to him, engaged the gunmen in a gun battle before they regained their freedom.
Akinola said, “The leader of the police team called TJ was a wonderful man. For the first time in my life, I doff my hat for the police for their performance. This same man, a Muslim, approached me and said they have heard about what I’ve been doing, that I should not stop, saying God has preserved my life for this purpose.
“It was just beyond my imagination that I came back in peace but was worried about my driver whom I later found out was in a hospital.”