How Ex-Clergy Planned My Wife’s Kidnap, Later Named Me As Target – Anglican Bishop

The Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Jos, Rt. Rev. Ephraim Gongden, has disclosed fresh details of an alleged plot by a former clergy of the diocese, Rev. Hassan Yunisim Mijah, to kidnap his wife, Mrs Esther Gongden, revealing that the former cleric later told him that he was the actual target of the conspiracy.

Bishop Gongden, who spoke on Advent Cable Network Nigeria (ACNN) on the foiled kidnap attempt, said the plot was uncovered on August 6 after a naval personnel arrived at the Bishop’s Court in Jos at about 10 p.m., insisting on seeing him personally.

The visitor, according to the bishop, initially claimed to have a message for him but refused to disclose its content to the security personnel.

Gongden said the man’s insistence on seeing him at such a late hour raised suspicion, particularly after he claimed to be a military officer.

He said the visitor eventually warned the security personnel that if anything happened to the bishop or his wife, they should not blame him.

“At that moment they called me and said, ‘This is what the man said.’ I said, okay, just play along with him for a few minutes,” the bishop recalled.

He said he used the opportunity to alert the police, who subsequently took the visitor to the station.

It was at the police station, he said, that the visitor played a recording of a conversation allegedly detailing the plan to abduct his wife.

According to Gongden, the recording contained specific information about his family, including their vehicle, mobile phones, residence and the alleged strategy for overpowering them at the gate.

“It was all about kidnapping my wife. Everything was about my wife: description of our car, description of the types of phones we have, how they will come and stop at the gate, how they will dispossess us of our phones, how they will take the car key and everything before we even enter the compound,” he said.

The bishop said the conversation also contained details of the routes allegedly intended to be used by the kidnappers and where his wife would be taken.

He explained that the alleged plan was to leave him behind so that he could search for money for his wife’s release.

Gongden said the man who exposed the plot was a naval personnel who had completed a peacekeeping assignment in Jos and was preparing to return to Sapele.

According to him, the man had allegedly been tasked with finding a house where his wife would be held after the abduction.

The bishop said the young man decided to reveal the plan because he could not reconcile the assignment with the values he had been taught by his parents.

“He said he wanted to sleep, but he lost his peace. And even when he tried and tried and tried, he said what his mother taught him and his father taught him could not allow him to rest. That was why he came to reveal it,” Gongden said.

He said the police subsequently used the young man to advance their investigation, leading to the arrest of Mijah and two other military personnel allegedly recruited for the operation.

The bishop said the former clergy was further implicated when a telephone call allegedly came from him while the young man was making his statement to senior police officers.

“He was asking him how far he has gone with the assignment they gave him,” Gongden said.

The bishop also categorically denied reports that he had reinstated Mijah into the Anglican Diocese of Jos.

He said Mijah was dismissed from the diocese in 2022 by his predecessor and remained a former clergy of the diocese.

“I want to say clearly that I never reinstated him, and he is not a clergy of the Diocese of Jos. We have no working relationship with him in any way,” he said.

Gongden explained that Mijah was given another opportunity to continue in ministry by another bishop before he became Bishop of Jos.

He said the arrangement did not make Mijah a clergy of the Diocese of Jos.

The bishop also dismissed reports that Mijah was a lecturer at the diocese’s seminary or that he had been posted by him to a church where he was serving.

According to him, the church in question was not an Anglican church under the Diocese of Jos.

He said elders of the church had approached him after the death of their pastor, requesting that Mijah be assigned to them.

“I said no. I don’t have any right to release him or to assign him to that church,” Gongden said.

He explained that he subsequently contacted the bishop who had given Mijah a second opportunity in ministry, after the church elders pleaded with him to intervene.

The bishop said the other cleric eventually agreed to allow Mijah to assist the church for six months to enable it stabilise pending the appointment of a pastor.

Gongden disclosed that he and his wife visited Mijah on August 8, two days after the alleged plot was uncovered.

He said the former clergy was crying and asking for forgiveness.

According to him, he and his wife forgave him but made it clear that their forgiveness would not interfere with the legal process.

“We assured him that our forgiveness does not mean that the case is ours to take and to handle, that the law will take its course,” he said.

The bishop said they asked Mijah why he allegedly planned the attack and whether they had offended him.

He said the former cleric denied that the devil influenced his actions, instead admitting that the plot had been deliberately planned.

“He said the devil is not involved in this. He said the devil did not influence him. He said this is something we planned. He said we planned for this,” Gongden recalled.

The bishop said he then asked Mijah who else was involved, but the former cleric did not provide a clear answer.

According to him, Mijah subsequently made a startling statement.

“He said, ‘You are our target.’ I looked at him and said, ‘So I’m the target now, not my wife?’ He said, ‘Truly, truly, you are our target,’” Gongden said.

The Bishop of Jos called on the police and other security agencies to conduct a thorough investigation into the alleged conspiracy to establish the motive behind the plot and identify everyone involved.

He said the matter was no longer a personal issue between him and the accused but a criminal case that should be handled by the appropriate authorities.

“It’s state versus the criminals. It’s no longer our own, because it’s a capital offence they have committed,” he said.

Gongden said the Plateau State governor was aware of the incident and had contacted him, but added that he could not speak on the extent of the state government’s involvement in the investigation.

“Our own cry, our plea, is that let this thing be investigated. Let us find out exactly what the problem is,” he said.

He added that if he or his family had offended anyone, they were prepared to apologise and seek forgiveness.

“If we have offended anybody, let us apologise. Let’s ask for forgiveness. If we have not, then let the law go on to handle the case in the best possible way,” he said.

The bishop also expressed appreciation to CNN and members of the public who contacted and encouraged his family following the incident.

He disclosed that the military personnel allegedly involved had been handed over to the military authorities for further action, while Mijah remained in detention as of the time of the interview.