Nigeria: Boko Haram release abducted Pastor
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Boko Haram Islamic terrorists in Nigeria’s Plateau State have released a Christian pastor they abducted last year, Our Nigeria reports. The release of Reverend Polycarp Zango is a flicker of light in a country that was recently described by US officials as a “killing field for Christians.”
Reverend Polycarp Zango, a pastor with the Church of Christ in Nigeria was kidnapped on October 29 by the ISIS West Africa faction of Boko Haram that calls itself the Khilafa. According to Our Nigeria, Rev. Zango from WildLife Park in Jos, Plateau was abducted by the terrorists as he traveled to Gombe along the Maiduguri- Damaturu road last year.
While pleas for help from the Plateau state government were apparently unheard, Rev. Zango was released through the negotiation efforts of the John Pofi Foundation and Kalthum Foundation for Peace NGOs, Our Nigeria said. The KFP had been working since January for the release of Rev. Zango among other hostages.
In a statement to Our Nigeria about the release of Rev. Zango, KFP Executive Director Bulama Mohammed said: “To the best of my knowledge, no ransom was paid to get the clergyman released. You can confirm this from his family and his church. All I can say is that the John Pofi Foundation encouraged and even pressured the KFP to get the Reverend released because he was critically ill.”
Nigeria ranks 9 on the US Open Doors Watch List of top 50 countries in which Christians are persecuted.
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