The top clergyman the story of whose kidnap was broken by News Express yesterday afternoon has regained his freedom. He is former Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Reverend Peter Jasper Akinola, a one-time President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

News Express had quoted the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, comprising Lagos and Ogun state commands of the Nigeria Police, AIG Mamman Ibrahim Tsafe, as ordering the immediate rescue of the firebrand cleric. This led to an impenetrable web being woven around all possible exit routes in the two states. The measures paid off when the Ogun State Police Command rescued the ex-CAN President at Ijoga Price in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of the state.

“It was a war because before we could rescue the old man. We found out that, apart from the man and his driver, one of his children was there. We have 10 teams of policemen that participated in the rescue operation. Three of the teams were escorting the victims to their house. And the remaining teams are still there in the bush because the place is wide,” said Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer Muyiwa Adejobi. The PPRO disclosed that the rescue operation was like a war that that saw the brave police officers exchanging gunfire with the kidnappers for about two hours.

Akinola, 69, was ambushed in front of the main entrance of the Peter Akinola Foundation Centre for Youth Industrial Training at Kilometre10, Abeokuta-Lagos expressway and seized with his driver around 2pm. The hoodlums reportedly blocked the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) conveying the cleric and started shooting into the air before taking him away in the vehicle.

•Photo shows Primate Peter Jasper Akinola.