Gunmen Kidnap Pastor From Prayer Meeting

Gunmen dragged a Nigerian pastor out of his church at gunpoint Sunday. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Panic and fear struck the Redeemed Christian Church of God congregation (RCCG) of Lagos, Nigeria, when armed men dressed in their Sunday best stormed the Sunday service.

"They dressed like people who had come to the church. They had Bibles with them. They did not shoot or display any weapon. It was when they got to the pastor that they brought out their guns and ordered him to come with them," one witness told PUNCH Metro.

There were few people at the church who could stop the kidnapping. 

"The pastor came earlier around 7 a.m. to prepare for a workers' meeting...and only three members had arrived for the abduction," the witness added. 

"We discovered after they had left that they were Ijaw militants," the witness said. 

The Ijaw people are ethnic minorities in Africa who have a long history of conflict with other minorities. Often times people are kidnapped and entire communities are attacked in the midst of the on-going violence. 

"It is a sad occurrence in our area that residents are being abducted, raped, assaulted and even killed every day. It is a problem that has been left to become a calamity," the witness said. "I think the state government and the police really need to do something about these recurring incidents. We are at the mercy of the Ijaw boys."

The pastor's kidnapping is another painful event for the RCCG. Just two weeks ago, a RCCG pastor's wife was hacked to death while she was trying to preach the gospel.  

Unkown assailants murdered Eunice Elisha as she was evangelizing in Kubwa, Nigeria.

Her husband calls her a martyr. 

"I see her as a martyr and she died for Christ and whether the people are caught or not, they [the community] should forgive them. My prayer is that if they can accept Christ, that will be a gain to Christ," he told Naij.com.

The church continues to pray and cry out to God for peace and justice.