My abductors Fed me with Frogs, Freed Reverend Father Narrates

Firstclass newsline learnt that the Reverend father of the Catholic
Diocese of Ekiti, Rev Father Emmanuel Akingbade, who was kidnapped
some weeks ago, Friday explained how he was fed with frogs by his
abductors for several days that he was held captive by unknown gunmen.
The reverend father was kidnapped at his home in Ido Ekiti on June 9,
2015 by suspected kidnappers, was held for seven days before he was
released last week.
Speaking with journalists in Ado Ekiti, the clergy recounted that he
was not the prime target of the abductors, saying the visit to his
home was only targeted at kidnapping any reverend father in order to
negotiate for ransom with the Catholic Church.
Father Akingbade said he was fed with Carbohydrate foods by abductors
in one-room apartment where he was held incommunicado for the seven
days, with only frogs as protein supplement.
The cleric said what he had to tear part of the rag the abductors used
to cover his face and turned it into a rosary to complement the
prayers being offered by many Nigerians.
He urged the security agencies to beam their searchlights on the
abandoned but completed Federal Government College, Isan Ekiti in Oye
Local Government Area, saying the inscription he saw while being
ushered in by his abductors indicated that he was kept in the school.
"Actually, where I was locked inside a very dark room, if not for God,
they may have left me there to die. I do not think anybody would have
been able to locate me if that had happened, if at all they would be
able to locate me it could be the smell of my corpse.
"They gave me bread, pure water, spaghetti and Indomie to eat. They
also gave me Eba. The only protein I ate there was frog. They were
prepared to feed me three times a day, at least two times. Initially,
they fed me like anybody would feed his dog.
"They were feeding me with the cover of plastic buckets. They gave me
too much of rice and I had to let them know that I only needed to eat
small food. The best meal I had there was eba and that was on
Saturday. I would have loved to eat much of that eba but they gave me
small".
"But the prayers of the people made them to, I was not privy to
whatever was happening outside the dark room but I observed on Monday
afternoon that there was tension in their camp. That Monday
afternoon, there was serious tension.
"I begged them that Monday afternoon to do me a little favour, to open
the door for ventilation so that I could still breathe in fresh air
and not die inside the dark room. They did this and because of the
opening of the door a little I was able to notice their movement and
discovered that there was trouble".
Explaining how he left the kidnappers' den without paying any ransom,
father Akingbade said: "I never knew what happened, that evening the
abductors opened the doors and the risk I took by summoning courage to
move out saved me. I later found myself by the road side.
"The Okada Man that assisted me to the next town which is Iludun
Ekiti, I asked of his name and he said his name is Emmanuel from
Ijelu. And my own name is Emmanuel. When I returned, the Bishop made
me to realise that on Sunday before my arrival, during the mass with
my people, they asked one of the children to pray for my freedom and
the little boy who came out to pray is named Emmanuel.
The cleric said kidnapping had become profitable in Nigeria, saying
"What happened to me could happen to anybody. This is our society; we
pray that God would uproot evil and plant good. The good things are
here is like we are not allowing them to flourish".
"The news came yesterday that the aged and former VC of FUTA, Prof
Albert Ilemobade was kidnapped and it shows that the abductors have no
respect for age and reputation", he said.
He said he expressed fear when he heard that a ransom of N200 million
was being demanded from the diocese, while also expressing happiness
that no money was paid to regain his freedom.
The Catholic Bishop of the Diocese, Most Rev Felix Ajakaiye, insisted
that the diocese did not pay for freedom of the abducted reverend
father.
He said: "The kidnappers kept contacting me, even up till Friday, but
I said we did have money to pay. They later started speaking in
Yoruba, asking me to give just anything. But I told them we can't
because we don't have and the church belongs to God, the priest
belongs to the church. We are all children of God and God would see us
through.
"In the catholic church, if you give me a car today and I happen to
die, no member of my family will come to claim the car because it
belongs to the church, except you came back to claim the car and say I
gave it to Bishop Ajakaiye and now he is dead I want my car and the
church would give it back to you.
"I have been hearing that we were telling lies that we didn't pay a
ransom but if indeed we paid, why do we need to lie? If we pay we will
say we pay. They don't take checks; they take cash and if we have paid
people would have known. If we paid, who took the money there and
where did they take it to?
"We just thank God. He did it through all of us, Catholics and
non-Catholics. So, I thank all who assisted us in prayers. The Pope is
just the head of the church; he is also the head of faith. The prayer
of the church is for God to release those in captivity so that they
will come out and become servant of justice".
Firstclassnewsline.net