The car the abducted Priest was driving "has not yet been found to know exactly where the incident took place,” Fr. Ibiyemi notes in his statement, and adds, “the kidnappers have called making demands.”
“With the grace of God, we are doing all in our powers to get our brother back safe and sound,” Fr. Ibiyemi further says in his December 8 statement shared with ACI Africa.
Speaking to ACI Africa December 8, the communication officer of Ondo Diocese said no details have emerged from the kidnappers “apart from the ransom demand.”
“Nothing has really been confirmed at this moment apart from the demand for ransom. The Diocese is working with the police on the issue,” Br. Samuel Job told ACI Africa.
The member of the Religious Institute of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) added, “There has been a demand made already but it isn't made public for security reasons. We don't want to escalate speculations on social media to give the supposed kidnappers an advantage.”
The Daily Post, a Nigeria publication, has reported about the Akure-Ikere highway abduction of Fr. Ijayi, indicating that 20million Naira (US$48,650.00) is being sought as ransom for the release of the 49-year-old Catholic Priest.
In the Daily Post report, a family member is quoted as saying, “Fr. Ajayi who was coming from Ikere-Ekiti in Ekiti was on his way to his parish, St. Peter Claver in Ilara-Mokin in Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State.”
Nigeria has been grappling with insecurity since 2009 when the Boko Haram insurgency began targeted attacks with the aim of turning Africa's most populous nation into an Islamic State.
Members of the Islamist group have been organizing random attacks on various targets including civilians, political and religious leaders.
In the December 8 interview with ACI Africa, Br. Job reflected on the rising insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation saying, “There's rampant cases of kidnappings in the country at the moment.”
