The Haitian gang that kidnapped 17 missionaries – 16 Americans and a Canadian on Saturday demanded $ 17 million or $ 1 million per person for their release, the Wall Street Journal quoted the Justice Minister as saying on Tuesday. .
The missionary team consisted of five men, seven women and five children, including an 8-month-old baby. The other four children were 3, 6, 14 and 15 years old, respectively.
“We are trying to free them without paying the ransom. The first thing to do is to be honest: if we give them this money, it will be used to buy more weapons and ammunition,” the minister told the Wall Street Journal.
The missionary team, affiliated with the Ohio-based Ministry of Christian Aid Ministry, was on their way back to the orphanage by bus when they were caught by a mob of 400 Maoists. The group, which holds a district of Port-au-Prince as its hostage, kidnapped members of the Catholic clergy last April and succeeded in such a plot.
The American Evangelical Organization called for prayer for its members. “As an organization, we put this situation in God’s hands and trust in Him,” the Christian Aid Ministry said in a statement on its website over the weekend.
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