By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
No fewer than four wedding guests, fourteen church members now in captivity needs N400m to regain their freedom before Christmas.
The 18 victims were those kidnapped within the last two weeks alone during a church service and the sum is the amount demanded by the kidnappers as ransom.
Our correspondent gathered that 14 worshippers from Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Ejiba, Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State, were abducted during church service on the 30th of November, 2025.
In the second attack, four wedding guests returning from Jos were forcefully abducted few kilometers to their destination in Magongo village in Ogori/Magogo on the 8th of December 2025.
While the kidnappers have placed a ransom of N25 million on each of the four wedding guests, the set of kidnappers who abducted the fourteen Church members are asking for N200 million in bulk. Their ransom was negotiated down from N500 million to the current N200 million.
The National President of the Magongo Development Association (MDA), Prince Jordan Akpata confirmed to Journalists that the kidnappers have communicated the ransom to families of the victims.
It was gathered that the set of kidnappers who abducted the Pastor, wife and family members of the church have even issued two days ultimatum for the victims to produce the said ransom or face the “consequences”.
There is already highthen anxiety across the state over the lives of the victims knowing that the Kogi state government has vowed not to negotiate with bandits and criminals in the state.
On November 30, 2025, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Femi Fanwo, confirmed the attack and strongly condemned it. The government stated that Governor Usman Ododo was coordinating a manhunt involving conventional and local security networks.
The government also reiterated its stance not to negotiate with bandits, stressing its capacity to confront criminal networks.
