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From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
After five days in captivity, two Catholic priests who were kidnapped by gunmen in Agbarho-Otor, Delta State, have breathed the sweet air of freedom.
The priests, Rev. Fr. Chochos Kunav and Rev. Fr. Raphael Ogigba, were set free on Thursday afternoon, it was learnt.
They were reportedly kidnapped on Saturday night.
Fr. Ogigba, who is the Parish Priest of St. Francis Catholic Church, Agbarha-Otor in the Catholic Diocese of Warri, was playing host to the visiting Fr. Kunav, a missionary priest of the Schoenstartt order.
Both clerics had visited another colleague priest in the area, and were returning to base when the hoodlums struck to whisk them away.
A senior priest in the diocese confirmed their release on Thursday.
It was not clear if ransom was paid to free the hostages, as the hoodlums had earlier demanded N20 million as ransom.
However, the leadership of the Catholic Church in Nigeria had long ago made it’s stand known that payment of ransom should never be encouraged.
Contacted in Asaba, Public Relations Officer of the state police command, DSP Bright Edafe, said his office was yet to be briefed about the release of the priests as at the time of this report.
Edafe promised to get back to our correspondent as soon as he is updated with the cheering development.
