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Wife exposes pastor Richard, who staged own kidnap to extort brother
…Suspect: I did it because I was in debt
According to a police source, on June 16, one Mr. Prosper, Onyekachukwu’s wealthy younger brother, reported to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba that his elder brother named Richard (Onyekachukwu) had been kidnapped and a line of conversation had been opened with his abductors who were asking for a ransom.
The source further disclosed that the IGP immediately directed the Commander of the FIB Intelligence Response Team (FIB-IRT), Abba Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) to investigate the matter, ensure the safe return of Onyekachukwu and fish out the culprits.
The IRT operatives swung into action by first visiting the house of the victim where they met his wife but were shocked that she looked unperturbed. And when the operatives introduced themselves as police officers investigating a case of armed robbery against her husband, she shouted that her husband was not an armed robber but only travelled to Taraba State on a business trip.
She told the police officers that although members of her husband’s family thought that he had been in captivity for three weeks, she last saw him about a week earlier.
On the basis of her claims, she was arrested and taken to the police station for interrogation, following which she opened up that it was a case of self-kidnap and the whole idea was from her husband.
She said her husband had financial challenges and was desperately looking for a way to repay the loans he had collected. She said her husband’s plan was to collect the ransom money and pay up his debt.
Following a clue from Mary that her husband was due to visit the house on June 18, the police laid an ambush and picked him up on the said date.
In his confession, Onyekachukwu, who described himself as a pastor and a contractor from Idemili South LGA, said he decided to organise his own kidnap in order to generate money with which he could solve a pressing financial problem.
He said: “I had a big church, Resurrection Power Church, but its roof was blown away by storm. I then took some loans to assist the businesses with which I was supporting the ministry and it was about N600,000.
Unfortunately, in the process, I had financial challenges and paying the loan became difficult. I made some losses in my poultry business and COVID-19 did not help matters. The banks were after me and I didn’t know what to do.
“I was thinking of how to get money from my younger brother, Prosper. He is a civil servant and also rich but stingy. I was thinking of how to get money from him to offset the bills before they would take me to court.
“It wasn’t easy; that was why the thoughts came to me. I don’t know why I decided to use that strategy.
“I called my friend Enoch and shared my thoughts with him. Enoch is also a pastor. Initially, he did not accept, but after sometime, he agreed. I told him that even it was a million or N500,000, I would be satisfied.
“Sometime in May, I travelled home to drop the corpse of my deceased mother at the mortuary. After that, I travelled to Nkpor, close to my village, to see if I could get some contracts.
“I was supposed to come back after a week. I called my wife and brothers about my mission at the village. There was three days delay and my wife was panicking because my phones were off. She called my brothers that I am missing.
“When I came back, I sneaked into the compound, dropped my bag and went to the mountain to pray. I called Enoch that we had an opportunity. He then called and told them that I had been kidnapped.
“I used to come back home, but most times I would sleep in my friend’s place. I told my wife after a week. She started suspecting my movements and I told her the things on the ground and that I didn’t know what to do. I needed to get money from Prosper before the bank people would come to embarrass us.
“I am the second son of my parents, and as an elder, I am expected to play a major role in my mother’s burial. We had a meeting and fixed a date and everyone was running around to see how to raise money to contribute.”
On why he requested that his brother, Prosper, must bring the ransom personally, Richard said: “I have no particular reason to request that my brother, Prosper, should bring the money. I never even thought of that as an issue. This is something I thought would just end within the family. My plan was to inform him after some time.
“On the ransom, I demanded N10 million and they bargained to N5 million, and finally, they brought N2 million. We were still waiting to hear from him when police arrested me at home.
“I am not happy. It is a regrettable action. I took it as a family issue I did not know it would get to this extent. I simply tell him that the reason is that if I had asked him for money to settle my debt, he would not do it. I am close to my brother, so I expected that he would bring the money to save my life.”
Mary, in her own statement, who described herself as a petty trader, said her husband told her that he would be embarking on a business trip on May 20.
“After some days, we could not reach him again. He did not come back the day he said he would return. I called his brothers and explained to them and they said I should relax, that he would come. It took about three days before someone called that my husband had been kidnapped and they were demanding N10 million.
“After a week, he came back and I was happy that he had been released, but he told me to shut up, that he would explain. He then asked me if I had plans to pay up our debts.
“He said since everyone believed that he had been kidnapped, I should not say anything till money was paid. He told me that I had started demonstrating my stubbornness when a woman was supposed to be submissive to her husband no matter the case.
“I was both confused and scared. The night they came to arrest me, I called the uncle and raised the alarm. The next day, they arrested me.
I met him as a pastor and I was taught to be submissive. I was just being submissive. It is not about love but obeying the word of God. I don’t have any word to justify myself. I am finding it difficult to forgive myself.
In his own confession, Enoch, a native of Awgu, Enugu State, said: “I am the founder of Christ Resurrection Power, Gospel Church of All Nations. I have no other job except evangelism. I started the church two years before the COVID-19 shutdown.
“My members dispersed and I was not able to raise money to pay rent so I shut down the church. Reverend Richard (Onyekachukwu) is my neighbour and brother in the Lord. He came to me and told me about his money challenge.
“He is owing some microfinance banks, the landlord was at his neck and he needed to contribute money for his mother’s burial. He does not have money to contribute as an elder brother.
“He said that he needed my assistance. I asked in what area and he said that he wanted to have himself kidnapped. He did not have anywhere to get the money from. His brothers do not like to give him money. He wanted to use this pattern to get money from his brother so I agreed to help him.
“He wrote a script and gave it to me, which I acted properly, including pretending to beat him up. We normally went close to the mountain and called them from there.
“We didn’t have any sharing formula until the money would come. I wanted to use it to go down to the east for evangelism.
“To survive, I used to go for outreach programmes and people will sow seeds and give offerings.
I knew that it was wrong when we got to the police station. The Bible says that deceit is a sin. I don’t know which devil entered my mind.
“I got a calling as far back as 2002 and I served under a church till 2015 when I was officially released. We opened an outreach but the church was officially opened in 2003.
President Bola Tinubu has approved a Federal Government delegation led by his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to represent Nigeria at the maiden Nigeria Diaspora Investment Economic Conference in Toronto, Canada.
The delegation includes Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang and Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal.
The conference, themed “Invest Nigeria, Thrive Abroad,” is scheduled to hold from August 12 to 15 in Toronto.
The development was announced in a statement issued by Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, on X on Friday.
According to the statement, members of the delegation also include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole; and Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Revenue Service, Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, Nigeria Export Promotion Council and the National Information Technology Development Agency are also expected to participate.
The statement said Canadian officials expected at the conference include President of the Treasury Board of Canada, Shafqat Ali; Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Graham McGregor; Ontario lawmaker Deepak Anand; Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown; Councillor Rod Power; and Ontario Minister of Women and Economic Opportunities, Charmaine Williams.
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Quoting the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the statement said, “The calibre of officials attending the conference demonstrates President Tinubu’s commitment to strengthening economic cooperation between Nigeria and Canada through trade, investment and diaspora engagement.”
It further quoted Dabiri-Erewa as saying the event “is more than a conference” and is designed as “an outcome-driven investment platform” that will connect international investors with “investment-ready” opportunities across key sectors of Nigeria’s economy while strengthening bilateral economic relations between the two countries.
According to the statement, the conference is being organised by NiDCOM in collaboration with the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa, the Canadian High Commission in Abuja and other stakeholders.
It said discussions will focus on agriculture, technology, manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, healthcare and the digital economy.
Newsthumb reports that the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Economic Conference is the first investment-focused forum organised by the Federal Government through NiDCOM to promote economic partnerships between Nigeria and its diaspora community.
According to the World Bank, Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest recipients of diaspora remittances, with annual inflows amounting to billions of dollars.
…says action could undermine public confidence in electoral process
…insists anti-graft agencies must remain independent but avoid actions suggesting political interference
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately take steps to vacate a court order freezing the bank accounts of the Osun State Government, saying the timing of the action, just days before the state’s governorship election, could create the impression of federal interference in the electoral process.
The President said although he respects the constitutional independence of the anti-graft agency and had no prior knowledge of its action, he was compelled to intervene in the overriding public interest to preserve public confidence in the credibility and fairness of Nigeria’s democratic process. NigerianBusiness Coverage
The EFCC had on Wednesday froze the accounts of the Osun State Government, placing a Post No Debit (PND), on its First Bank account, alleging fraudulent handling of N11 billion ecology funds, intervention funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
However, in a personally signed statement issued from the State House, Abuja, President Tinubu disclosed that the EFCC had obtained the court order on August 5, 2026, freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government.
He said he was “deeply embarrassed” by the timing of the development, explaining that actions taken by federal institutions are often attributed to the President, regardless of whether he authorised them.
“It has come to my notice that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) obtained a court order on August 5, 2026, freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government. I must state that I feel deeply embarrassed not by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate backed by a court order, but by the timing of the agency’s action.
“This is so because every action taken by an institution of State, especially at the Federal level, is always credited to me, as the President, even when I may not have had any prior knowledge of the action”, the President said.
Tinubu reiterated his long-standing policy of allowing anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies to carry out their statutory responsibilities without political interference, stressing that he had deliberately refrained from directing the operational activities of the EFCC and other investigative bodies since assuming office.
He said, “since assuming office, I have consistently maintained that anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies must be allowed to discharge their statutory responsibilities independently, professionally, without fear or favour, or political interference.
“I have therefore deliberately refrained from directing or interfering in the operational activities of the EFCC or any other investigative or prosecutorial agency because I firmly believe that strong democratic institutions, operating within the confines of the law, are indispensable to democratic good governance and the rule of law”, he said.
The President maintained that institutions established by law should be allowed to exercise their powers independently and without requiring presidential approval for routine operational decisions.
However, he said the circumstances surrounding the EFCC’s action required presidential intervention because of the proximity of the Osun governorship election.
“As President, I am committed to allowing institutions of State to function and take any action they consider necessary in the interest of proper governance without the need for any prior approval. Indeed, that is why institutions are set up by law with clearly defined powers.
“While I am yet to be fully apprised of the facts which informed the action of EFCC in approaching the court to obtain the said order freezing the Osun State Government account, I am not in the slightest doubt that the timing of the action of EFCC is inauspicious, and therefore I feel compelled to intervene”, he said.
The President warned that no action by any federal agency should create the perception that the Federal Government was attempting to influence the outcome of the forthcoming governorship poll.
“Osun State is only a few days away from its gubernatorial election. Therefore, nothing ought to be done to give an impression that the EFCC or indeed any other agency of the federal government is being used to interfere with the election”, he stated.
Tinubu said preserving public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process was paramount, adding that he was duty-bound to act in the national interest.
“Based on the foregoing premise, I am duty-bound to issue a directive on this issue in consonance with the overriding public interest in preserving public confidence and the integrity, credibility, and fairness of our democratic process”, he said.
The President consequently directed the anti-graft agency to immediately reverse its legal action against the Osun State Government.
“Accordingly, I have directed the EFCC to immediately proceed to the court to vacate the order and discontinue whatever action it has instituted against the Osun State Government in this regard”, Tinubu declared.
A total of 308 kidnapped victims, including 176 residents of Woro community in Kwara State and 132 others abducted in Niger and Kebbi states, have been rescued in a coordinated multi-state security operation.
The successful operation, carried out by security agencies, marks a significant breakthrough in ongoing efforts to combat kidnapping and restore peace across the affected communities. Authorities said the rescued victims have been reunited with their families, while efforts are underway to apprehend the perpetrators and dismantle the criminal networks responsible for the abductions.
The rescue underscores the commitment of security agencies to strengthening intelligence-driven operations and ensuring the safety of lives and property across the country. Further details on the operation and ongoing investigations are expected from the relevant authorities.
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