The increasing wave of violent crimes across the land raised its
ugly head again two weeks ago in Benue state when the highly
revered Rev’d Fr. John Adeyi was kidnapped along the Highway,
on his way from Okpoga to Otukpa, and taken to an unknown
destination by equally unknown men.
The first news of this ugly incident came from Prince Yemi
Itodo, publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Daybreak Newspapers,
who posted it on his Facebook page and later followed up with
an update on the ransom demand by the kidnappers.
Curiously, however, Mr Itodo later posted that he has been
asked to discontinue any update on the matter by people whom
he would not name. They even went further to ask him to pull
down his earlier posts, and, for the Yemi that I’ve come to know
to oblige this request, it must mean that those behind it must be
powerful people in the society, most likely from the security
establishment.
Whoever must have been behind such an order, what Prince
Itodo did was an act of cowardice that has rubbed off on all of
us as the hours have now become days, and days have now
rolled into weeks; without a single hint about Fr. Adeyi’s
whereabouts.
Worse still is that we manage to, individually and collectively,
sleep and wake as if nothing has happened.
Rev. Fr. John Adeyi is an avant-garde trailblazer. As the first
person to venture into Catholic Priesthood from Otukpa, Fr.
Adeyi became a household name in Idomaland during his
Priestly Ordination when the Legendary Idoma Gospel Singer,
Peter Owoicho Otulu, dedicated a track in one of his albums to
his strides. A simple man of very humble disposition, Fr. Adeyi
is the kind that cannot hurt a fly, either by physical disposition
or spiritual orientation, it will, therefore, be a surprise if there is
any other motive behind this criminal act other than monetary
gain; which, in any case, would be least likely because the
reverend gentleman cannot even be counted among the rich or
wealthy.
Considering the foregoing, a few questions readily come to
mind: are there no authorities and agencies constituted with the
duty of maintenance of lives and property or the management
of security and protection of citizens? Are there no documented
channels of reporting incidences such as kidnaps and
molestations or blackmails and threats? If such exist and if
reports have been deposed to, what actions, therefore, have the
responsible agencies taken?
Considering Rev’d Father John Adeyi’s continued detention by
his abductors weeks after the incident was reported to the
Benue State Command of the Nigerian Police Force, one posits
that somebody must be Responsible, some other unit be
Accountable, yet another agency being Consulted and we, the
People must be Informed on activities and actions being
undertaken to secure the release of the reverend clergyman. By
extension, it must either be deduced or inferred that his
continued detention implies failure, either by commission or
omission; by collusion or abnegation or dereliction of said
duties by Security Personnel and Key Stakeholders in the
Security Architecture of both the State and Federal
Governments.
We must not allow Rev’d Fr. John Adeyi to go the way of the
Chibok Girls!
We do believe it is time for a conscience call to all and sundry; a
call to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase,
before he accuses us of exaggeration again, to investigate and
facilitate the release of Fr. Adeyi by any means possible and
reunite him with his family and community without further
delay.
The DSS, the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army (that
superintends the 72 Brigade Command in Benue), the State
Government that specialises in sloganeering, Benue Traditional
Leaders, Local Chiefs and all men of good will must join their
hands together to make sure that Fr. Adeyi is released by his
captors unhurt.
It’s quite unfortunate that the Conference of Catholic Bishops
will go and share a cup of tea at the Presidential Villa with the
President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, H.E.
Muhammadu Buhari at a time that an integral member of the
Clergy, Fr Adeyi, remains in the Kidnappers den and will not
extract a single word of commitment from Mr President about
accelerating his release, if at all his case was mentioned.
Finally, perhaps if Rev’d Fr Adeyi’s abductors are chanced to
read this write-up, I implore them to release this innocent man
of faith unconditionally to avoid the judgement of the Almighty
God.
- Cletus Emoche Agada
