Kidnappers still holding my son after collecting N500,000 ransom – Akwa Ibom pastor

Kidnappers still holding my son after collecting N500,000 ransom – Akwa Ibom pastor

How did you get to know about your son’s abduction?

It was on December 3, 2025, that the kidnappers called us and told us that my son, Utibeabasi, had been kidnapped. They told us that we needed to pay a N30m ransom. So, we negotiated and agreed to pay N500,000. The ransom was paid into the account of one Uzo Onuoha Enterprise through a PoS.

What circumstances led to his abduction?

My son left home in the morning, saying he was going out to buy cloth to sew and wear to our church convention in 2025, which was held here in Uyo. He said that after buying the material from the market, he would go to the workers’ council, still in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. From that day till today, we have not seen him.

Which convention are you talking about?

It was our annual convention organised by the Solid Rock Kingdom Church.

Did the kidnappers demand more money after you gave them the sum of N500,000?

No, they did not ask for more money after we agreed on the N500,000 ransom. After paying the ransom, they told me that I should pick up my son at the Abak Local Government Area in the evening. My wife and I went to a central point called Ekom Iman Junction, waited for their call, and from the day the ransom was paid till this time, those who kidnapped my son have not called again.

Which phone number did they use in reaching out to you? Did they use your son’s phone number or their phone number?

They used my son’s phone number throughout to reach out to us.

What is the Akwa Ibom State Police Command saying about the incident after you reported the matter to them?

First of all, I reported the matter to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit. After that, I went to the DSS. After the DSS, I went to SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics Unit). But in the process, none of them has been able to come up with anything concrete. When I call them, they always tell me that they are on the matter. Later, when we call them, they would not answer.

When I visit them, they behave as if they do not know me or have never seen me before, even when I have paid the money they demanded. When the delay became too much, a journalist told me to contact the state Police Public Relations Officer or the state Commissioner of Police. I was told the CP was looking for me, telling the journalist that he had never heard that my son was kidnapped.

That was how many months after the abduction of your son?

That was about four months after the incident. When I went to SWAT, they told me to write a petition so that they could take it to the state Commissioner of Police to sign and take action. So, I wrote the petition about the kidnapping of my son and took it to the CP. When he saw it, he said I should go back to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit.

The Anti-Kidnapping Unit was trying because they were able to detect who received the N500,000 ransom sent to the kidnappers, but they could not find the PoS operator. While the Anti-Kidnapping Unit was trying its best to trace my son’s whereabouts, it did not come back with anything.

The journalist interested in the matter went back to the Commissioner of Police to tell him what was happening; he said I should go back to SWAT. When I got to SWAT, I was told to pay for a new tracking exercise, which would cost me N100,000. Each analysis is N50,000.

I asked them why I should pay for a new tracking exercise when the same tracking had been done before. I told them that it was embarrassing and a way of taking things for granted, and I said I would not come back to them again.

Does that mean that you are not satisfied with the way the police were handling the matter?

I must commend the officer in the Anti-Kidnapping Unit. That man was so nice to me. However, in all this, nobody was able to bring out the call log; nobody was able to identify the boy who called my son out of the house.

Based on the tracking, there is a central man who called people, who in turn called my son, and people were calling him. If you see the tracking, you will know. It is a very easy tool to handle, very easy, but none of them used the tracking to do the real work.

So, I told the IPO that he should go for the call log, which would make the work easier for them. The young man who called my son was identified. Even the central man, through the tracking, should have been identified. The IPO promised to do so, but he has not been calling me.

Why do you think the police are not showing enough commitment to ensuring the rescue of your son?

When I went to the DSS, I paid for the tracking; I paid N50,000 for each of the phone numbers that were analysed. I went to SWAT and paid money to track Uzo Onuoha. That’s it.

How would you describe your son?

He is the kind of child that any father on earth would like to have as a son. Any man would like to father such a child. He is a good son. Above all, he is a choir leader and is so committed that he would sleep in the church on Saturday night in order to participate in the early prayers. I am a pastor, and I am proud of a child who is so concerned about the things of God.

How has the incident affected your family?

It is an incident that has sent shockwaves and fear into the minds of members of the family. My heart is broken, and I am wiping my tears because my son means a lot to the family. He is a final-year student in the university who worked hard to get to that level. So, I don’t know whether it is a conspiracy or whether someone does not want him to complete his final year in the university; that is exactly what I am still thinking, but I still trust the God whom we serve.

Did your son tell you about any disagreement with any student at the university before his disappearance?

No, he had a disagreement in the church with a few boys in the branch where he served as a choir leader.

The issue was about three young men in that group. In the church, they brought in a kind of emblem or logo indicating something associated with cultism. My son told them that they should remove the emblem from the church. It was during a session of the choir called the Rock Singers.

So, my son identified the emblem, on which they wrote, ‘Stay wicked’, and when he told them that they should not bring that kind of thing into the church, they told him that his father did not own the church and, as such, he had no right to stop them. They threatened that they would “block” him and beat him up on the road.