The Anglican bishop whose abduction caused uproar in Rivers State walked back home from his slumbering abductors. The story of the abduction and eventual return of the cleric, Clement Ekpeye, has set tongues wagging endlessly in the oil rich state.

The bishop had reportedly played host and prayed for Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), but allegedly began to receive threats, and ended up being abducted.

The abduction, which took place after evening church service on Tuesday, December 18, 2018, had elicited uproar from monarchs and community leaders even as the APC says it is wrong for citizens to be turned into commodities.

In the heat of the uproar, news filtered out that the peace-making bishop had walked back home. As sniffing dogs wanted to know the size of ransom that must have been paid, information came from reliable sources that the man of God simply walked away miraculously from his slumbering abductors at night.

This elicited fresh noise, but this time, of jubilation from many quarters.

The bishop’s ordeal was said to have begun when he allegedly played host to Tonye Cole of the APC and thereafter, life became unbearable with threats and eventual abduction. His wife said on radio that the gang came with “sophisticated” guns and three walked into their parlour soon after the man of God returned from evening service after 7pm.

The men demanded for money, but got none, and then phones. “They asked for the car key and my husband said please take the car. They said, no come with us. They ordered all of us to lie down. When I looked through the window, I saw him going with them. I rushed out and asked the guard, he said they took him with them”.

The woman who described the bishop as a peaceful man pleaded with the abductors to return him “unconditionally”.

The monarch and youths of the community have issued several statements, saying this is one abduction too many. They recounted several others but wondered why a rural-based cleric was targeted. The youths said the bishop was behind the successes of the amnesty scheme in the area which led to many armed men surrendering and accepting the Governor Nyesom Wike amnesty. They also said the bishop was non-partisan and straightforward and honest.

•Sourced from a Businessday report

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