RCCG Pastor Killed; Seven Church Members Abducted In Ogun State

A Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) pastor was assassinated by gunmen who are thought to be kidnappers, and seven worshipers were also taken, hostage.

On Saturday, July 1, 2023, the gunmen reportedly stormed the RCCG Church in Abule-Ori, in the state’s Obafemi Owode Local Government Area.

One of the kidnappers was slain during a rescue operation, according to Soji Ganzallo, the commander of the Ogun State So-Safe Corps, who verified the occurrence to newsmen. Since then, his officers have freed the seven churchgoers.

Ganzallo was reported as adding that the incident took place at around 12 in the morning in a statement made public by the So-Safe Director of Information and Public Relations, Moruf Yusuf.

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“The special operation team of the Corps, Owode-Egba Zonal Command, under ACC Jimoh Rasaki Omoniyi, received a distress call that some of the members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Desires of Nations Parish, under Ogun Province 22, Abule-Ori in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area were attacked during a vigil; seven members of the church were kidnapped and the pastor killed,” the statement read.

He claimed that the Corps’ officers were instructed to pursue the culprits in order to save the victims unharmed, adding that “the officers swung into action immediately.”

Ganzallo further disclosed that the efforts of the corps yielded a positive result as “the seven victims were rescued unhurt, while one of the kidnappers was killed and many of the suspects sustained a serious injury during a fire exchange.

He also stated that a joint police-So-Safe Corps squad was pursuing the fleeing suspected kidnappers in order to apprehend them alive.

He noted that the body of the deceased kidnapper had been dumped in a neighbouring mortuary.