Abducted Anglican priest, Canon Olowolagba, who was kidnapped alongside his wife, and two children has regained freedom.
The family was kidnapped on Sunday, 22 December, along Ise Akoko-Iboropa road in Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Earlier, the Bishop of Akoko Anglican Diocese, Babajide Bada, who confirmed the incident on Saturday, said the abductors demanded N75 million ransom.
Bada said, “The unfortunate incident happened on Sunday between 4 pm and 5:30 pm. The man involved is Reverend Olowolagba. He was travelling from Ipesi with his wife, Mrs Olowolagba, and their 16-year-old daughter, Goodness Olowolagba, a 100-level student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, who came for a holiday, and a nine-year-old girl staying with them, identified as Idowu.
“They drove from Ipesi through Isua Akoko; they were kidnapped between Isua and Ise-Akoko. We did not know about the incident until the following morning when their members discovered that they didn’t get to Ikaram, where they were going, as they were not also at home.
“Since then, those who kidnapped them have been calling. They earlier called to ask for N10 million, but when we gathered some money to give to them, they changed the amount to N75 million. That is why the victims are still in captivity”.
The family was released by their captors late Saturday.
Though details of their release were still sketchy as of the time of filing this report, the commander of state Amotekun Corps, Adetunji Adeleye, confirmed that the family had regained their freedom.
“The pastor and family have been released”, Adeleye said.
