Martin Amaewhule, the speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly, says he is thankful to God for surviving a kidnapping and an assassination attempt in the past years.

Mr Amaewhule stated this during his 52nd birthday thanksgiving service at the All Saints Anglican Church in Eliozu, Obio/Akpor LGA.

“I am not just marking another birthday but acknowledging that many people had planned to take my life in the last one year, but God didn’t allow them.’’

Recounting how he survived a harrowing experience in 2008, he said that he narrowly escaped death during the incident.

Mr Amaewhule noted that he was abducted by some unidentified gunmen at his residence as he arrived after a Sunday church service.

“Some of you were here in 2008 when a preacher was preaching right here on a Sunday service, on that fateful day, I didn’t know the people who came to kidnap me were also in the service.

“After service, they tactically followed me to my residence, tied up my security guard, and abducted me and took me to a forest where they held me hostage for five days.

“They placed thorns under my feet and inflicted several injuries on my head and body in the process of moving me from one hideout to another within the forest. They fed me with biscuits throughout the period, even as I almost bled to death,” he said.

The speaker, however, expressed gratitude to God for his numerous blessings, guidance, and preservation over the years.

“’When God does things for you, it is important to appreciate him more,” said the Rivers speaker.

(NAN)