American Christian Missionary Phyllis Sortor was Just Abducted in Nigeria, and Now Her Captors are Demanding This...

Shawn Schuster : Feb 25, 2015
Gospel Herald

"We are just a working-class family, we don't have money. That's not a huge church, they don't have money. Why they took her, who knows?" -Richard Sortor

(Nigeria)—American missionary Rev. Phyllis Sortor is the latest Christian to be captured by militants in the war-torn African nation of Nigeria, but the $300,000 ransom demanded from her captors is just not possible, according to family. (Photo: Rev. Phyllis Sortor during a missionary trip in Nigeria/Facebook/Sortor Family)

"We are just a working-class family, we don't have money. That's not a huge church, they don't have money. Why they took her, who knows? The people that are doing this stuff, these guys have no backing—they're just cowards," Sortor's stepson, Richard Sortor, told Q13 Fox News in an interview.

Confirmed by Bishop David Kendall of the Free Methodist Church near Seattle, Washington, the reports of the woman's abduction have been relayed to the U.S. Embassy and the State Department who has confirmed that a U.S. citizen has been reported missing in Nigeria.

Sortor was reportedly taken from Nigeria's Hope Academy compound in Emiworo, Kogi state, where she regularly did missionary work. Mike Henry, a colleague and fellow missionary who had worked with Sortor in Nigeria several times before, said that she is his "inspiration of courage."

Sortor was abducted by five armed and masked men who jumped the walls of the compound and fired shots in the air at 10:30 a.m. local Nigerian time (4:30 a.m. ET). Kogi Police Commissioner Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi told NBC News that he believes the abductors are part of a criminal gang and police are currently searching for clues. "We will do all within the available resources to ensure the safe rescue of the victim," he said.