Gunmen, suspected to be kidnappers, have abducted 12 persons, including a pastor of a pentecostal church, Christ Embassy, Lawrence Ohimare, in Bayelsa State.
The abductors were said to have hijacked a passenger speedboat carrying Ohimare, the pastor of the church’s branch in Brass area of the state, and 11 others, heading for Yenagoa, the state capital.
The commercial speedboat was said to have taken off from Twon-Brass, en-route the Nembe waterways to Yenagoa about 7am on Monday.
It was learnt that the speedboat was waylaid by the gunmen just after the Obama rice farm in Nembe and diverted to the Okoroma creeks.
A source, Pastor Eriye Tumeni, said information available to them, though sketchy, was that the boat took off around 7 o’clock in the morning of Monday from the Twon-Brass jetty, enroute Nembe, but was hijacked by the gunmen.
He said the 12 passengers on board the speedboat were rounded up by the suspected kidnappers and were taken to an unknown destination through Okoroma creeks.
He added that the contact with Pastor Ohimare had since been cut off since the incident.
He said, “As I am speaking with you, we have yet to hear from the abductors or from the Pastor (Ohimare) since then. The wife of the Pastor is completely devastated and had to be attended to. She is in a state of mind that cannot be explained.
“Since we received the news, I have called the Divisional Police Officer in Nembe, the Bayelsa Commissioner of Police, the JTF Commander and all other relevant security agencies in the Bayelsa waterways to help secure the release of the Pastor and the other 11 passengers on board.”
He said the Edo State-born Pastor Ohimare is a complete gentleman, who could not hurt a fly, praying that the abductors should have a change of mind and release the ‘man of God’.
When contacted, the Police Public Relation Officer, Bayelsa State Police Command, Asinim Bustwat, confirmed the incident.
Butswat, however, said the command had not been fully briefed on the incident.
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