Kidnapped Haitian pastor released after 3 weeks, 3 ransom payments

PORT-AU-PRINCE — The leader of the Eben-Ezer Church of God in Port-au-Prince, Pastor Lochard Rémy, was released on the evening of Feb. 26 in Tabarre, Port-au-Prince, after being kidnapped and held captive for 22 days, according to local reports. 

Rémy’s ransom was paid on three separate occasions in Haitian gourdes and U.S. dollars, according to Rezo Nòdwes. It is unclear exactly how much was paid and by whom. Following the payments, the kidnappers delivered Rémy outside of the headquarters of the Motorized Intervention Brigade Corps (CBIM). He was reported to be physically weak but otherwise in good health.

Rémy was kidnapped while he was on his way to church in Tabarre Feb. 6.

The 400 Mawozo gang was purported to be behind Rémy’s kidnapping, but its leader Wilson Joseph, better known as “Lanmò San Jou” — which means to ‘death comes any day,’ denied the allegation.

“If we were the ones who held him captive, we would have let him go already,” Joseph said in a recording circulating on social media and YouTube. “They’re taking people and hiding them and are blaming it on us.”

A prominent anesthesiologist, Dr. Martial Piard, was also released on Feb. 26, without a ransom payment.