Nigerian pastor liberated by Boko Haram just before execution
The Christian Post reports that Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria freed a Christian pastor on Wednesday evening who had been held captive since Christmas Eve, just hours before the ransom deadline expired, and he was to be executed.
Security sources told the Nigerian online newspaper Premium Times that Pastor Bulus Yikura, who was abducted during an attack in the Chibok local government area of the Borno state on the 24th of December has been released. A Premium Times reporter claimed to have seen the pastor being transported to a state security office around 6:15 p.m. local time.
Boko Haram, one of the world’s deadliest extremist groups, released a video where Yikura pleaded with the Nigerian government and the Christian Association of Nigeria to rescue him before he was killed.
In one of the videos obtained by HumAngle, the pastor knelt as a knife-wielding man in a mask stood behind him. Yikrua, affiliated with the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, had appeared in three videos throughout his detainment. One was released in December, days after his abduction, and the others were released in January and February.
Dede Laugesen, executive director of the United States-based advocacy group Save the Persecuted Christians, believes the EYN church might have paid his ransom.
Source and image: christianpost.com
