Emmanuel Chigozie Okpara, was arraigned
and remanded in prison on Wednesday by a
magistrate court sitting in Oke Eda, Akure,
Ondo State in an alleged kidnapping case.
The Pastor appeared in court with 27-year-
old Evelyn Jonathan, who is also facing
charges of kidnapping and possession of
weapons. Others who joined Pastor Okpara
and Evelyn in the act are now on the run.
But Pastor Okpara, who said he is the pastor
of Believer's Prayer Ministry in Owerri, Imo
State, insisted that he had nothing to do with
the abduction, adding that the kidnappers
had approached him for prayers.
During his police interrogation, Pastor Okpara
said:
"I never knew they wanted to kidnap the
child because when we arrived in Akure I
was inside the vehicle when they brought
the baby and one of them brought out a
gun and said this was a case of
kidnapping and anybody who misbehaves
would be shot and that was how it all
started."
The police is however accusing him of
complicity with a group of boys in the
abduction of a 2-year-old baby, Bolanle
Olowokere, the daughter of Mr and Mrs Bayo
Olowookere in March of this year.
At the time of the abduction, the group stole
the mother's cell phone and cash of Naira
200,000. A week ago, Ondo State
Commissioner of Police, Isaac Chinoyerem
Eke, paraded the pastor and Evelyn.
The Prosecutor handling the case, ASP Zakari
Ibrahim, told the court that the accused were
armed with guns and other dangerous
weapons while carrying out the kidnapping.
He also countered the Pastor's claim that he
was innocent when the told the court that
during the police investigation they
discovered it was the Pastor who took the
kidnapped baby to Evelyn Jonathan in Bayelsa
State before calling the mother of the child
and demanding N10million ransom.
According to police sources, Pastor Okpara
held the baby hostage for 10 days before he
was caught.
Chief Magistrate Johnson Adelegan, presiding
in court, did not accept the plea of the
Pastor but ordered that he and Evelyn should
be remanded in prison custody, pending legal
advice from the Office of the DPP.
Pastor Okpara and Evelyn will remain in
prison till April 29, 2014, when the trial is
expected to start.
No comments:
Post a Comment