Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have killed a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Ogun State and abducted seven worshippers.
It was gathered that the gunmen stormed the RCCG parish at Abule-Ori in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of the state on Saturday, July 1, 2023.
The Ogun State So-Safe Corps Commander, Soji Ganzallo, who confirmed the incident to newsmen said his officers have since rescued the seven church members and killed one of the kidnappers during a rescue operation.
In a statement made available by the So-Safe Director of Information and Public Relations, Moruf Yusuf, Ganzallo was quoted as saying that the incident occurred at about 12 am.
“The special operation team of the Corps, Owode-Egba Zonal Command, under ACC Jimoh Rasaki Omoniyi, received a distress call that some of the members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Desires of Nations Parish, under Ogun Province 22, Abule-Ori in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area were attacked during a vigil; seven members of the church were kidnapped and the pastor killed,” the statement read.
According to him, officers of the Corps were charged to go after the suspects to rescue the victims unhurt, stating that “the officers swung into action immediately.”
Ganzallo further disclosed that the efforts of the corps yielded a positive result as “the seven victims were rescued unhurt, while one of the kidnappers was killed and many of the suspects sustained serious injury during a fire exchange.”
He added that the joint team of the police and the So-Safe Corps were after the fleeing suspected kidnappers to capture them alive.
He noted that the body of the dead kidnapper had been deposited in a nearby morgue.