The management and staff of FirstNews have commenced a fasting and prayer exercise to seek divine intervention for the release of their editor, Segun Olatunji.
The latest effort is coming few days after, the media outfit wrote a letter to the Chief of Defence Staff, requesting him to help them locate Olatunji, who was whisked away from his Lagos home, a week ago.
In an internal memo, all staff of the organization were directed to “use today’s Sunday service to pray for the release of Segun Olatunji in your various churches. At this point, only God can secure his release.”
The memo further read: “While we are still waiting on the authorities for positive response regarding his whereabout, we have also decided to go spiritual by requesting all members of our staff to put in a special prayer request in their various places of worship tomorrow to call on God to intervene.
“Our request is a simple one: God, please bring Segun Olatunji back home safely to his family from the hand of abductors.
“This is a very trying period for us and the family. We are turning to prayer because all efforts to establish his whereabouts and those who are holding him captive have not yielded any result. We don’t know what to do and who else to turn to for help. It does appear that the only sure bet now is to seek God’s help.
“Since the incident occurred, we have all been praying individually for his safe return. But now we have taken the decision to call for collective, corporate prayers and fasting until he is released and safely returned to his family.
“This Sunday in all our churches, we are requesting all our staff to raise prayer alters to specifically intercede for his release. It will be followed by a prayer chain to continue throughout the week involving all members of our staff until God answers our prayers. We invite members of the public, including friends and family members of our editor, to join us in this prayer chain.”
On March 15, about 15 armed men in two unmarked vans picked up Olatunji from his home in Alagbado, a community in Nigeria’s western Lagos state.
The men, two of whom wore military-style uniforms, were reported to have introduced themselves as officers of the Nigerian army as they took him away.
Olatunji’s wife Abiodun Oluwakemi, was said to have pleaded with them without success not up to take her husband away.
