Seminarians abducted at the Catholic Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary School at Ivianokpodi, Agenebode, in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, have appealed to their parents and well-wishers to help secure their release.
It was learnt that gunmen attacked the school on July 10, killed a civil defence corps officer attached to the school, and abducted three seminarians.
While one of the abductees was released afterwards, two others have remained in the kidnappers’ den ever since.
Immediately the seminarians were abducted, the Commissioner of Police in Edo State, Monday Agbonika, had ordered the immediate deployment of tactical teams to apprehend the abductors and rescue the seminarians unhurt.
Agbonika said, “The operatives will not relent until those behind this reprehensible act are tracked down and made to face the full wrath of the law.”
However, in a recent video recording reportedly released by the kidnappers, the two teenage seminarians were seen begging their parents and members of the public to pay for their freedom.
Surrounded by masked gun-wielding men, the seminarians were also seen holding dried human skulls.
They were heard saying, “They kill people here. Our abductors have threatened to kill us. Please, send money to them to spare our lives.”
The spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, Rev. Fr. Peter Egielewa, confirmed that the video was real.
Egielewa said, “The video you see of the seminarians holding a human skull is real. We are negotiating with the kidnappers.
“But they are asking for money which we do not have and I think it’s out of frustration they did that video,” the cleric stated.
However, efforts to get the police’s reaction to the video on Thursday were unsuccessful.
