Boko Haram terrorists have executed a Christian cleric and local church leader, Lawan Andimi who was kidnapped on Jan. 3 and has been in captivity for weeks, news sources close to the terrorist group reported on Tuesday.
“To break some news items can traumatize. I’m battling with one of such. Reverend Andimi, abducted by #BokoHaram was executed yesterday. Rev. Andimi was a church leader, a father to his children and the community he served. My condolences go to his family,” Ahmad Salkida a Nigerian journalist with access to the dreaded group tweeted.
Pastor Andimi was abducted by a faction of the radical group during a raid in Adamawa state of Nigeria where he was the state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). He had earlier been declared missing on January 3 following a raid on Michika town in the state.
Boko Haram released a video a week after his capture showing Andimi in captivity where he made a plea for help. The terrorist group is known for terrorising the Lake Chad region sandwiched between Nigeria and Chad.
“I have never been discouraged because all conditions that one finds himself is in the hands of God,” Andimi assured in the video while asking his pastor colleagues to seek the help of Adamawa state governor Ahmadu Fintiri and other Nigerian authorities for him to be rescued.
UN-accredited NGO, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said before the video’s release, the pastor was last seen being taken away in a Toyota vehicle.
After the video was made public, CSW Chief Executive Merwyn Thomas called for Andimi’s unconditional release in a statement.
“We echo his plea for Governor Ahmadu Umoru Fintri and any other officials with influence to intervene and secure the release of this courageous man,” Thomas said.
In the video, Andimi had explained that his captors — believed to be part of Boko Haram’s Shekau faction — treated him well by feeding him and providing shelter.
“These people have been doing good to me. They are feeding me with what I want to eat,” he said. “They are providing a nice place for me to sleep, a blanket and every need,” Andimi said.
“I believe they didn’t do anything wrong to me,” Andimi added. “I still believe God who make them to act in such a way is still alive and will make all arrangements. By the grace of God, I will be together with my wife and my children and all my colleagues. If the opportunity has not been granted, maybe it is the will of God,” the pastor had hoped while speaking in the video.
“Don’t cry, don’t worry, but thank God for everything,” Andimi had urged his supporters in the video before the latest news of his execution by the dreaded group.
The increase in Boko Haram attacks over the course of December and January in multiple states in Nigeria should “cause alarm worldwide,” the Christian NGO said.
According to CSW, Boko Haram is accused of carrying out a Dec. 22 attack on two passenger buses on Munguno road in the Borno state.
Local media reports said that while Muslim passengers were allegedly released, Christian passengers were separated by gender. Three men, including a pastor from the local Deeper Life Bible Church, were said to have been killed with three females kidnapped.
On Dec. 26, a Christian bride and her bridal party were beheaded by suspected Boko Haram terrorists days before her wedding while the group was traveling from the Borno town of Maiduguri to the bride’s country home in Adamawa state.
The bridal party beheadings came on the same day 11 Christian aid workers were murdered by Boko Haram after being abducted in Maiduguri and Damaturu.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s army chief, Lt. General Tukur Buratai on Monday described as “the kicks of a dying horse” recent attacks and executions by Boko Haram and ISWAP saying that the military was prepared to route out the terrorists and their collaborators.
“The recent moribund activity of Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province insurgents is synonymous with the kicks of a dying horse gasping for the last breath,” Buratai said.