● Rev. Omole: Kidnappers collected ₦20m rransom and ₦300k items but captors’ location now untraceable
Rev. Sunday Timothy Omole, pastor of ECWA Church, Omugo, Ifelodun LGA, Kwara State, says the pain of losing his wife, Mrs. Rachel Oluwaremilekun Omole, is worsened by his inability to recover her remains for burial.
The clergyman spoke with Vanguard Thursday morning, two months after gunmen abducted eight worshippers during Sunday service on March 22, 2026. Five, including his wife, have since died in captivity.
According to Rev. Omole, Sunday Bakare, one of the abductees who escaped after spending over a month with the terrorists, said he could no longer identify the exact spot where the victims were held.
“The guy said he wandered in the forests for ten days immediately after he escaped from the terrorists. Then he found a village through which he found his way back to Omugo,” the pastor said.
“He said he can no longer identify the spot, so there’s no means by which we can retrieve the corpses for burial after payment of N20 million ransom and other items worth over N300,000.”
The other deceased worshippers are Elder Chief David Omopariola, Chief Joseph Ibitoye Afariogun, Iyabo Aniyi, and Elder Joshua.
Rev. Omole said Bakare reported that the health of the three remaining captives had “seriously deteriorated” before his escape. The church is making efforts to rescue them, though the pastor did not give details.
He appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to intervene. “My boss told me that the governor has called him this morning to commiserate with the church, but I’m urging him to please intervene and rescue the remaining three worshippers; he can do it,” he said.
The clergyman also expressed frustration over rising insecurity: “All of us know that it can be stopped, but the government is not just willing to stop it.”
