Nigerian police seek abductors of prelate freed after ransom

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s police say the country’s security forces are still looking for suspects in the abduction of the head of the Methodist Church Nigeria who was freed in exchange for a ransom of 100 million naira ($240,600). Samuel Kanu Uche was freed on Monday, a day after he was kidnapped in Abia in southeast Nigeria. Police spokesman Geoffrey Ogbonna said security forces “are still looking out for the suspects” who abducted Uche. According to the Lagos-based SBM intelligence research firm, Nigeria’s kidnap-for-ransom business has seen more than $18 million in ransoms paid between 2011 and 2020. Nigeria’s federal authorities have been trying to stop the abductions for some time, most recently through legislation to ban ransoms.