John Shiklam in Kaduna
The Kaduna State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has declared that one James Clement, who allegedly faked his own kidnap and demanded N5 million ransoms from his family, was never a pastor.
Clement, who claimed to be a pastor, was arrested on Monday with George Otokpa, for conspiring and staging the fake kidnapping.
The State Chairman of CAN, Rev. Joseph Hayab, in a statement released yesterday in Kaduna, said that investigations by the association showed that Clement was not a pastor.
Hayab said: “We carried out investigations to confirm whether James Clement is truly a pastor and our findings revealed that he is not a pastor.
“Any pastor or Christian who faked his own kidnap or is confirmed to have any dirty business to do with kidnappers should be arrested and prosecuted.
“Kidnappers have caused us pains and sorrow and our faith and association will not support or defend evil.
“James Clement, who was arrested with his collaborator for faking his own kidnap, is not a pastor in any church.”
Hayab added that some of them were road side artisans who claimed to be clergies when their businesses were not moving well.
“How can a true pastor planned to defraud his family by faking his own kidnap? This is unchristian and no culture in our dear country supports such evil behavior,” Hayab wondered.
He commended the security agents for arresting and exposing people like Clement. “We hope and pray that they will go after more bad eggs in our community and arrest them. This will help to sanitise the community and separate good from evil.
“We are appealing to our members and the general public to help in exposing people with dubious attitudes around them,” Hayab said.
The police, in a statement on Wednesday, said the culprits were arrested by the Police Anti-Kidnapping Unit on Monday.
Clement was allegedly reported to have faked his own kidnap while Otokpa engaged his family to negotiate for ransom.