The Catholic priest who was abducted on Sunday evening in Rivers state in Nigeria’s Niger Delta oil region has been freed unharmed by his abductors, the police said Thursday. Rev. Father Pius Kii of the Christ the King Catholic parish in the Rivers capital, Port Harcourt, was freed along with two others in the early hours of Thursday, state police command spokesperson Rita Abbey said.
She identified the other two as Mr. Confidence Ordu, Finance Director in the state ministry of urban development and Mrs Ngozi Ileh, a staff of oil firm Total Fina Elf.
Abbey said the command was not aware if any ransom was paid before the three were freed.
Kii’s abductors had demanded a ransom of 20 million naira (US$140,000), but the Catholic Diocese in Port Harcourt vowed not to pay any ransom to secure his release.
The Bishop of the Diocese, Most. Rev. Alexius Makozi, said the church was against kidnapping and would not succumb to the demand of those he tagged ‘criminals’.
He described the abduction of the priest as not only criminal but sacrilegious, and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.
On Wednesday, Makozi had led more than 30 clerics, all decked in their pastoral robes, to protest the abduction.
Hostage-for-ransom has become a regular occurrence in the restive oil region, with the government blaming the problem on criminal groups rather than the militants who are seeking a better deal for the impoverished region.