The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), says it is deeply distressed by the abduction of five Pastors of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), along the Benin-Shagamu expressway.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), recalls that the Pastors were abducted on Friday, Aug 2, on their way to the Redemption Camp along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

The clergy men were on their way to the ongoing Ministers Conference when they were abducted.

MURIC, in a statement signed by its Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, described the incident as “scary”, and urged security agencies to make concerted efforts to rescue the Pastors.

“Our hearts are with the families of the abducted Pastors; we share in their tribulations and trepidation,” the statement made available to newsmen on Saturday in Ibadan, said.

The group appealed to the families of the victims to take heart and be strong in faith, saying that Nigerians were with them every inch of the way.

“We must not lose hope; the nation is praying for them in unison. We are confident that the abducted preachers will return home unhurt,” it said.

MURIC called on Nigerians of all faiths to pray for the abducted clergy, stressing the need for all to place collective humanity over tribal and religious differences.

“In particular, we beseech Nigerian Muslims, who are currently on pilgrimage, to add the safe return of the five Pastors to their prayer points.

“In addition, we call on all Muslim Asalatu groups to dedicate time to special prayers for the five Pastors during their Asalatu sessions on Sunday. They should also pray to Allah to stop the spate of criminality in our country,’’ MURIC said.

It urged Nigerians to stop the blame game, saying that those blaming government and the security agencies were only chasing shadows.

MURIC said that security issues were the responsibility of all, stressing that the fact that the kidnappers grew up from some families was an evidence of the collapse of family values.

“Greed has supplanted self-satisfaction and immorality has displaced self-discipline in our homes,”  MURIC lamented.