The founder of Grace Nation International, Chris Okafor, has recounted his ordeal in the hands of kidnappers who abducted him alongside his personal assistant in 2012.

The senior pastor, who spoke during a press conference at the church headquarters in Lagos on Thursday, said he survived the terrifying episode only by the grace of God.

Before the incident, Okafor explained that he had been travelling for multiple crusades and had not attended church for several Sundays.

“On this occasion, I went to my state, Anambra State, because I am from there. We held a crusade at the state capital, Awka.

“We had just concluded the crusade. Before then, we had been moving from one crusade to another, so I had not attended church for one or two Sundays. We went to Awka to round off and held the crusade from Thursday to Saturday.

“Our plan was to close on Saturday, travel from Awka to Benin City, sleep over, pray, and then leave early in the morning. If there was a flight, we would fly to Lagos; if not, we would travel by road to meet the church service in Lagos.

“We planned to conclude the crusade, travel to Benin City for prayers, and then proceed to Lagos for the church service,” he said.

He noted that shortly after leaving the hotel, gunmen opened fire on their vehicle.

Exhausted from travel, he said he had been asleep but woke to the sound of gunshots.

“It sounded like something out of an action movie. The driver asked what to do, and I told him to keep moving.

“The shooting sounded like something out of an action movie. The driver asked what to do, and I told him to keep moving,” he said.

The pastor recalled fearing for his life as the vehicle somersaulted into a ditch under gunfire.

Okafor revealed that, as the sixth child, he was nearing the same age at which his two eldest brothers had died.

He said, “At that moment, thoughts crossed my mind about whether that was how my life would end. There was a pattern in my family: I was the sixth child, and the first two boys had died at the same age.

“I was approaching that same age when this incident happened. The gunmen continued shooting as the driver lost control of the vehicle, which somersaulted into a ditch. They came closer and kept firing.

“I was sitting in the back of the car with my personal assistant. A policeman was seated in front, alongside the driver.

“When the gunmen reached us, they took my assistant and me. They removed my shirt and used my singlet to blindfold both of us. We were forced into the boot of their SUV and driven to an unknown location.

During that period, he said, ransom money was raised and paid, but the kidnappers refused to release them.

“We were all blindfolded. About 16 of us slept on the bare floor in one room, wearing only boxers.

“A bucket was used for urination, and the smell filled the room. My personal assistant was there with me, and we encouraged each other,” Okafor added.

He said the kidnappers took them along in the boot of their vehicle on three occasions while carrying out attacks on police stations.

“We were chained on our hands and legs throughout the captivity. They opened fire on police officers and collected their weapons. I witnessed policemen being killed.

“Some of the kidnappers lived outside the country and only returned periodically to carry out operations. At one point, three of them said they had encounters with a man dressed in white who kept telling them to release me.

“One night, they woke us up and asked for my village name. They said they were releasing me after 58 days. There had already been rumours that I had died in captivity, but God intervened.

“They drove us to my village and removed the blindfold from my eyes. They instructed me to keep my head down and guide them. My house was by the roadside. They knocked on the gate. At the time, widows I cared for were gathering every night to pray,” Okafor narrated.

He said his mother fainted when the gunmen brought him to his village, adding that one of the kidnappers remarked that only a powerful God could have kept him alive.

He described his condition as “severely weakened, malnourished, and covered with marks from beatings,” after which he was taken to the hospital for treatment.

He added that his personal assistant remained in captivity at the time and was only released after the kidnappers demanded and received additional ransom.

“I was heavily bearded, malnourished, weak, and covered with marks from beatings. I was taken to the hospital.

“However, my personal assistant was still in captivity. The kidnappers demanded more money for his release. The money was eventually raised and paid, and he was released.

“He gave it to them because I said, ‘This man doesn’t come out. What will be my explanation today?’ So finally, I was there for 58 days. He was there for about 64 days. Finally, he came out by giving them the money. He’s still with me till today.

He said the ordeal disrupted the church so severely that the congregation dispersed, leaving him to begin again.

“So by the time we returned, the church was, like, completely scattered. But as soon as we got back, God began to make a way for us.

“This is how far we have come to this ministry, to this church we see today. It is nothing but the shared grace of God.

“Because I had a near-death experience, I saw death face to face, and God has helped me. God has helped us, kept us, and preserved my life.

“At least I’ve gone past the age where the other boys died. God used me to break that cycle in my family,” he said. (PUNCH)

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