The kidnapped Dean of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius Kattey has been freed by his abductors.
Kattey, who was abducted along with his wife, Beatrice last week Friday along Aleto-Eleme in Eleme Local Government Area of River State, was freed on Saturday night.
His release was confirmed by the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Angela Agabe, who said the cleric was rescued by the police and other security forces.
Details later
President Goodluck Jonathan has assured that he would do everything within his power to secure the release of the Dean of Niger Delta Diocese of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Most Revd. Ignatius Kattey,
There have been growing concerns by the Anglican community and the public on the continued captivity of Kattey.
Speaking at the Standing Committee Meeting of the Church at the St. Peter’s Deanery in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the President maintained that everything is being done to ensure his release unharmed.
According to him, he met with the heads of security agencies on Thursday to map out strategies towards ensuring the clergy’s released.
Jonathan expressed personal pain and regret that the Bishop had remained in captivity, which he said was a reflection of the decline in the value system.
He noted that kidnapping has become one of the terror activities aimed at undermining the federal government’s efforts at ensuring a peaceful and stable country.
The President , who commissioned and inaugurated the Anglican Cable Network of Nigeria (ACNN) as part of the activities of the meeting, harped on the need for a return to family units to check the rising crimes.
He said: “Speaking of crime and insecurity, in the country, it is a matter of personal pain and regret to me that the Most Reverend Ignatius Kattey, the Bishop of the Province of the Niger Delta is not with us today because he is still being held by abductors.”
“It is quite worrisome that such inhuman crime as kidnapping has now taken root in our society, it certainly calls for real soul searching and re-evaluation of our entire value system.”
“I strongly condemn the continued abduction by criminal elements in our society who seek to profit from other people’s suffering and humiliation. The Federal Government and its security agencies will continue to do everything possible to rescue Bishop Kattey and other abductees and ensure that their kidnappers are brought to justice.” He added
He said that the Federal Government would continue to vigorously pursue effort to ensure greater security of lives and property across the country.
“Already, as a result of our on-going actions and measures, the security situation is steadily improving. The gains of the state of emergency in the North East had been tremendous and felt by all. From a society that was coping with uncertainty, we are now beginning to see a gradual return to normalcy in most parts of the North and other parts of the country with greater level of certainty in our daily lives.” He said
He went on: “Our calling as people of faith is to constantly demostrate love for all humanity like our Lord Jesus Christ. Our fight should never be against our brothers and sisters but against our worst enemies as a nation which includes terrorism, insecurity, crime, corruption, poverty, disease and ignorance, which are raging the very fabric of our society.”
“We are a society of peace, no religion or culture in Nigeria preaches violence and mindless killings, the sorrow, blood and tears we have seen lately are not hallmarks of our country or any civilised society, we will continue to do our best to ensure that all Nigerians are able to live in peace in one strong, united and indivisible nation.”
“As you proceed to your delibrations, I urge you to remain mindful of the critical role the family and quality education have to play in the urgent task of correcting our value system and to reflect and proffer actions the church can take to support our familly unit and our educational system.”
“I strongly believe that as a nation, we must collectively return our family units to their traditional roles as the bedrock of a just, peaceful and secure society. The family unit which was one of our most prized assets as a people still holds the key to correcting our warp value system but it requires the support of our churches, other religious bodies, schools and men and women of goodwill. It is a fact that some of the biggest and best educational institutions in the world today have their foundations in the church in Nigeria.”
He commended the church for its complementary efforts in providing education, saying: “I urge you to do more in this regard as we could do with more educational support especially in the area of science and technology. We are confronted with challenges today that only sound research and innovation can solve, we cannot continue to look outside for solutions forever, Nigeria has the potentials to provide answers to its own problems and with your assistance, we can surmount the challenges in our educational sector.”
Speaking on the new television station, the president said it was noteworthy for the church to have established the Anglican Cable Network Televison Channel, that would provide the church with more opportunities for propagating message of love, peace and unity as the world increasingly turn to the tools of Information Technology.
The Most Revd Nicholas Okoh, the Archbishop Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigerian Anglican Church in his homily commended the federal government for the steps it had so far taken to ensure peace and stability in the country, especially the state of emergency rule declared in some states in the north-east, which he said had ensure gradual return of peace to the area.
He also acknowledged that government was making steady progress in he areas of rehabilitation of infrastructure such as roads, railways, airports rehabilitation as well as steady improvement in power supply in all parts of the country.
The clergy who spoke on the ongoing face-off between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called on both parties to find amicable end to the impasse to avert the near collapse of the university system.
According to him, if not resolved the crisis could cause a major break down of the system.
On the long term, however, the clergy called on the federal government to work out a system whereby the university staff union is de-centralized, saying that no where in the world has a union that is that powerful is allowed to have a one unit command structure where its impact is flat in all parts of the country.
The sad aspect of the development, he said, is that while the teachers are on strike, some of them would be taking up teaching appointments in some private universities and at the same paid for the period that they did not work.
ONCE upon a time, the September 6 kidnap, by unknown gun men, of Archbishop Ignatius Kattey, Dean of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria and Archbishop of Niger Delta North Diocese, and his wife, Beatrice, would have passed for plain sacrilege, from which even the most depraved would cringe. But there it was; and even now, the cleric is still in captivity. It just shows how decayed our society has become. That must be condemned by all right-thinking citizens. His wife was left off the hook, revealing that the cleric was their target.
Still, moral free fall or no, nothing can excuse the creeping anarchy on Rivers State, with its concomitant high level of insecurity. It is even more unacceptable that the utmost professional charged with ensuring the security of the Rivers citizen, Police Commissioner Mbu Joseph Mbu, would appear too distracted to concentrate on his work; and his bosses at Abuja would appear comfy with playing politics with the lives of the ordinary citizens in the state.
A few days ago, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State had rued the descending anarchy, claiming it was due to the slackness of the Mbu-led police in the state. True, the embattled Amaechi could not be said to be unpartisan in his comments, for he is involved with President Goodluck Jonathan, in the tussle for the political soul of the state. So, using the archbishop’s kidnapping to point at Mr. Mbu’s tragic distraction could well be playing to the gallery to score a quick one on his federal traducers and their local viceroys.
Still, the governor would appear to have genuine cause to complain because whereas kidnapping and allied violent crimes were rampant when he took office in 2007, those vices had significantly been rolled back under his charge – until the current political crisis rocking the state.
Aside, even with the charge of alleged partisanship laid on Mr. Mbu, coupled with the reckless statement credited to the police commissioner which tended to suggest he was competing with the governor for political authority in the state, the police authorities did not think it fit to redeploy Mr. Mbu to another state. Might he have been left behind as a prized asset in the Rivers State political struggle, even if the security situation degenerated beyond measure?
This is a hard question. But it is hardly illegitimate, given the way things are shaping out in that state. Still, the onus is on Mr. Mbu to squarely face his work. When hoodlums start kidnapping moral exemplars; or it becomes imperative for an archbishop to drive round with armed escorts just because some hoodlums are on the prowl, then somebody has failed in his duty of state.
The way the state police are celebrating the abandonment of Mrs. Kattey, while the kidnappers took away her husband, claiming to be “on top of the situation”, borders on arrant stupidity. You cannot be on top of a situation when you are always securing the stable doors when the stallion has escaped. Combing bushes after kidnappers have bolted with their quarry is not particularly intelligent. So, the Rivers State police must get real.
Mohammed Abubakar, the Inspector-General of Police, owes himself a professional duty to ensure his men in the states are professional and clearly so. Mr. Mbu may yet protest his innocence on charges of partisanship – and he may well be right. But the worsening security situation in Rivers gives a contrary view. He must be made to sit up.
The citizens of the state have inalienable right under the 1999 Constitution to full security. That must be ensured, starting with the full restoration of Archbishop Kattey’s freedom; and preventing any future kidnap.
*Mbu should be held responsible for insecurity in Rivers – Amaechi
The Second-in-Hierarchy to the Primate of the Anglican Church, Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius Kattey, and his wife, Beatrice, were on Friday night kidnapped near Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Kattey, who is also the Dean/Archbishop/Bishop of the Niger Delta North of the Anglican Communion, and wife were on their way to Port Harcourt, when the kidnappers struck by the bridge at Aleto-Eleme near the Rivers state capital, in Eleme Local Government Area.
The gunmen seized the cleric, an indigene of Aleto-Eleme, and his wife around 11:30 pm. Beatrice was later abandoned with their car, while the kidnappers moved the Archbishop to an unknown destination.
The Archbishop’s whereabouts remain unknown, while no demand for ransom had been made.
The Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who had been at loggerheads with the Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu, since his redeployment from the Oyo State Command in February this year, said the police boss should be held responsible for the spate of insecurity in the Niger Delta state.
Kattey’s kidnap occurred barely two weeks after the Rivers State Commissioner for Sports, Fred Igwe, was shot at Akpajo-Eleme in the same Eleme LGA of Rivers state on August 25.
Igwe, who was shot by assassins that aimed at his head, but narrowly escaped with injuries, is still responding to treatment in an undisclosed hospital in the state.
The Rivers sports commissioner, who was with two other persons in the Toyota Corolla saloon car, marked: GCG 11, had the vehicle riddled with bullets, thereby creating deep holes on it, during the attack around 8:15 pm.
Kattey, who was made the Dean of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria about a year ago, is described as a very simple and easy-going cleric.
It was learnt on Saturday that the kidnapped cleric was expecting the Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, in Port Harcourt on Saturday and decided to leave his house in Aleto-Eleme on Friday night, to sleep in Port Harcourt and put finishing touches to preparations to welcome him.
It could not be confirmed as at press time if Okoh was still able to visit Rivers state, in view of the unfortunate development, with Anglicans and others now praying for the immediate release unhurt of the cleric.
It was also gathered that the Archbishop and his wife were driving to Port Harcourt late in the night to beat the traffic restrictions of Saturday morning, occasioned by the monthly environmental sanitation exercise, but unknown to them, the Sole Administrator of the authority, Ade Adeogun, earlier announced that the exercise would not hold, in view of the ongoing GCE/WAEC examinations.
Sources also indicated that Kattey’s wife was not immediately released by the kidnappers, but was moved with her husband into Aleto-Eleme bush, while the intensive combing of the forest by policemen and members of the Anglican Church was responsible for dropping of Beatrice, when they were closing in on them.
Aleto-Eleme, where the kidnap took place, is near the two Port Harcourt refineries in Eleme and the Indorama-Eleme Petrochemical Company.