Ondo State Pastor Arraigned And Remanded For Kidnapping Baby

An Ondo State Pastor, Emmanuel Chigozie Okpara, appeared before a magistrate court sitting in Oke Eda, Akure, over his involvement in the abduction of a 2-year-old baby Bolanle Olowokerea.
Pastor Chigozie, who claims to be the pastor of Believer's Prayer Ministry on Umudagu Road, Orjiin Owerri, Imo State, was arraigned along with one Evelyn Jonathan, 27, who is also facing charges of kidnapping and possession of weapons while others responsible for the kidnapping still remain at large.

Pastor Chigozie holding his church banner
According to report, Pastor Chigozie aided a group of boys in the kidnap of Bolanle who is the daughter of Engineer Bayo and Mrs. Blessing Olowookere in March of this year. At the time of the kidnap, the group stole the mother's cell phone, worth Naira 15,000 and cash of Naira 200,000.

The Pastor was said to have held the baby hostage for 10 days before being caught by police.
However, during police interrogation, the pastor denied having anything to do with the kidnapping, saying they only approached him for prayers.
"I never knew they wanted to kidnap the child because when we arrived in Akure I was inside the vehicle when they brought the baby and one of them brought out a gun and said this was a case of kidnapping and anybody who misbehaves would be shot and that was how it all started," he said.
The pastor's claim of innocence was countered by the Prosecutor handling the case, ASP Zakari Ibrahim as he said that during the police investigation they discovered it was the Pastor who took the kidnapped baby to Evelyn Jonathan in Bayelsa State before calling the mother of the child and demanding 10 million Naira ransom.
Presiding over the case, the Chief Magistrate, Johnson Adelegan did not accept the plea of the accused or ask for their counsel, but ordered the accused persons be remanded in prison custody so the court could obtain legal advice from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution over the case and the case was adjourned to Tuesday, April 29, 2014.