General Overseer of the Victorious Sacred Solemn Healing and Deliverance Ministry, Prophet Oluwaseyi Idowu has been arrested for allegedly impregnating two sisters.
The pastor, it was gathered, also allegedly attempted to sell their father’s two-storey building without his consent.
Policemen from the Oko-Oba division in Ojokoro Local Council Development Area of Lagos State stormed the church last Sunday to arrest the pastor.
The Nation learnt that the pastor was invited to set up his church and manage a flat in the sisters’ father’s compound when he had accommodation problems in Agege.
Their brother said: “I and my brothers bought my father a two-storey building in Ogunsola close, Abule-Egba and at that time, Pastor Oluwaseyi had rent issues. My father allowed him to set up his church in his compound and also manage a flat. We never knew that was the beginning of our problems.
“The pastor held several vigils to create awareness and public attention. As time went on, he invited people to stay in the church and from the church they moved into the main house. Occupants left the house for the pastor’s people to move in and they lived there without paying a kobo.
“Months later, the pastor said he wanted to marry my 20-year-old sister, a virgin, who just graduated from secondary school. We never knew he had been sleeping with her for months before then. Recently, we found out that he also impregnated my 25-year-old sister who has been indoors for the past nine months.”
He said that their parents were not talking because the pastor’s congregation and family have taken over the building.
He added: “I called my elder brother who told me to report the case to the police. It was at the police station we found out that he intended to sell our building to build a new church elsewhere.”
Since the incident, it was gathered that members of the church have vowed never to return.
An officer at Oko-Oba Police Station said: “This is not an issue of rape; the two impregnated sisters could have resisted or lodge a complaint against the pastor; it was when they got pregnant that a complaint was sent to us and we intervened. But even if Pastor Idowu is charged to court now; it’s useless because the girls were not raped. However, the neighbours and residents at Ogunsola Close are claiming the pastor used charm to sleep with them, and that is not an issue to be resolved in the court.”
When The Nation visited the house, our reporter was told that Pastor Idowu has relocated.
The General Overseer of Agape Baptist Church, Pastor Oprite Amakiri, has been arrested and detained at the Rumuolumeni Police Division in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
SIX-YEAR-OLD Miss Sharon Eghobamien, a pupil of Eriya Group of Schools
The 50-year-old randy pastor confessed to how he deceived a member of his church and raped her 18-year-old sister before he was exposed and dragged to the police.
Amakiri was said to have told about 200 members of his church that he had been battling waste pain for the past two years and stressed that God told him that a girl between the age of 12 and 18 years old would be needed to massage his waste for him to be healed.
However, the gullible members of the church did not see anything wrong in the randy pastor’s ‘prophecy’ and one of them, the elder sister to the victim (names withheld) decided to make available her 18-year-old sister for the massage job.
The pastor (Amakiri) decided to visit the home of his victim’s sister to get massaged while the owner of the house (victim’s sister), who is a roadside trader, had gone to do her petty trading.
It was learnt that the pastor raped the girl on three occasions and threatened to deal with her if she dared expose his deeds to anyone, including her elder sister.
Not satisfied with the development, the victim (names withheld) slammed the door against the pastor on the fourth day and stopped him from gaining access into the room for another round of sex.
Angered by the girl’s effrontery, the randy pastor put a call across to the elder sister of the victim and told her that the 18-year-old girl was trying to stop ‘God’s prophecy’, an action that forced the naïve victim’s sister to abandon her wares and rushed home with dissatisfaction.
On getting to her house, the rape victim told her sister how she had been defiled on four occasions by the pastor. It was at that point that the trader raised the alarm and Pastor Amakiri was arrested.
Speaking with newsmen, the errant pastor confessed to the crime and said nobody should blame it on the devil and that he (Amakiri) should take the blame because he actually planned and executed the rape of the teenager.
“The elder sister to the girl I raped is a choir member of my church. It was after choir practice one Thursday that I informed the sister that I would like to visit her house for a serious discussion and she obliged me.
“The following day, I paid her the visit and requested that she allow her younger sister (his victim), to massage my waist, that I had been having ache on it in the past two years and every treatment, drugs and injection had failed.
“She then went and discussed with the younger sister, who accepted to help me. So, we had the first massage treatment that day while the elder sister was around and nothing happened between me and the little girl.
“On Saturday, I called her to inform her that I was coming back for the treatment, I got there while she was about to leave for choir practice in the church. While the massage was going on, I had the (sexual) urge. So, I had carnal knowledge of the girl. I have successfully raped her three times,” Amakiri, whose church is located in Rumuolumeni, added.
The cleric, whose wife is a health worker in Degem Locl Government Area of the state, explained that he could not tell his wife to massage him because she only came home from her work place once a week when she was off duty.
Amakiri, who has four children, stated that it was during his fourth attempt at raping the girl that he met a brick wall and since then, he had not regained his freedom.
He said, “It was the fourth time that she (victim) locked the gates against me. So, I had to call her sister on her cell phone and she rushed to the house from her shop and began to interrogate the girl on why she did not want to massage my waist again and she disclosed what has been happening between us.
“I sincerely regret my actions. It is like the ground should open up and swallow me. Don’t blame the devil for what has happened, blame me because I was tempted and I did it,” he added.
The victim, who simply gave her name as Goodness, told newsmen that she never knew the pastor that was respected so much by members of his church could think of having sexual intercourse with her.
She said the pastor had warned her on each occasion he forcefully had carnal knowledge of her not to disclose what happened to anybody, including her elder sister.
“I was in the house when the pastor came and asked me to massage his waist. On the first day, I massaged him, nothing happened between us. But on the second day, while I was massaging him, he began to touch my breast and raped me.
“I tried to escape, but he held me and warned me never to tell anybody what he did to me. He has raped me three times,” the victim said, adding that she used vegetable oil to massage the pastor’s waist.
Speaking on the matter, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad, said the randy pastor had confessed to raping the girl on several occasions, adding that Amakiri would be charged to court at the end of an ongoing investigation into the matter.
Mohammad told newsmen that the teenager would be taken to the hospital for a comprehensive medical check-up to ascertain that the pastor has not infected her with HIV or any other sexually transmitted diseases.
He cautioned members of the public to beware of people, who might want to deceive and take undue advantage of them.
A 49-year-old pastor, identified only as Bassey, has reportedly slashed his throat after he was accused by his church members of diverting funds for personal use.
It was learnt that the incident happened last Monday around 5am on Abari Street in the Mulero, Dopemu area of Lagos.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the suicide was reported to the police at the Dopemu divison, and policemen deposited his remains in a morgue, while his wife, called Iya Emmanuel, and son, Emmanuel, were arrested in connection with the incident.
It was learnt that the pastor had written a short note, stating that his family was not complicit in his death.
A police source told our correspondent that preliminary investigation revealed that the pastor was frustrated after he was accused by the church of diverting the undisclosed sum.
“The knife used by the pastor to kill himself has been recovered. He also wrote that he killed himself. We learnt that he was accused by his church of diverting money. He was probably frustrated because his neighbours described him as a God-fearing and honest person. We are still trying to find out the actual amount involved,” the source said.
A neighbour, who identified herself as Seun Oladimeji, said the pastor had been awake in the night, walking around the passage. She said a note, which read, “I, myself, not my wife”, was found in the family’s room after his death.
“I don’t know whether he (pastor) did it because of the money issue, but he and his wife were very friendly. He woke up around 3am that day. I learnt his wife and son, Emmanuel, later begged him to go back to bed. At about 5am, the woman screamed for help. We all gathered in their room and saw blood gushing out of the pastor’s neck.
“Unknown to the woman, he hid a knife which he used to slash his throat. Before he died, he wrote on a piece of paper ‘I, myself, not my wife’. I can say it anywhere that it was not his wife who killed him. The son was just crying; he was not himself. Both of them were arrested.”
Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the pastor and his wife had a good relationship with each other, adding that she did not believe his family members had a hand in his death.
He said, “Pastor helped his wife with her hair before the incident. They really loved each other. Most times, while the wife washed clothes, he would be spreading it on the line.”
Another resident, Mr. Olatunde Olasunbo, said the pastor moved to the area with his family two years ago.
“I did not know his church, but he was God-fearing and very nice. He was always with his bible. Even if he diverted the church funds, suicide is not the solution. He and his wife related like siblings. They moved to this area two years ago,” he added.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident via a text message, adding that the case had been transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.
“Case transferred to the SDCI for further investigation,” she stated in the text.
…says the spirit of Judas Looms large in the church
THE National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, believes ‘something is so wrong’ with Christianity in Nigeria, saying followers of the faith must get it right like Islam.
“The only thing that will save the Church is to build an institution; not just CAN but the President of CAN must also become an institution”, he says, Oritsejafor also speaks on his travails as CAN leader.
Ayo oritsejafor
Oritsejafor spoke at the 28th annual convention of Word of Life Bible Church, known as Jubilee Word Festival, where the church leadership empowered 21 persons from different parts of northern Nigeria, especially the North-East, where Boko Harm is campaigning to establish on Islamic caliphate.
The beneficiaries were drawn from Adamawa, Benue, Borno, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kebbi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau and Taraba states.
Enumerating the effects of poverty, Oritsejafor urged well-meaning Nigerians to reach out to displaced fellow country men and women as a result of the activities of Boko Harm and herdsmen.
According to the CAN President, despite the insecurity in different parts of Nigeria, there is still an opportunity for this nation to be one of the greatest nations of the world if the citizens can come together to iron out their differences and forge ahead in unity.
“We need to reconcile ourselves to ourselves. We need to come back together. We need to know that we have only one country. We need to forgive and value each other. We need to integrate ourselves into this one country where everybody is important. I think it is important, right now that we do that to ourselves and I can tell you that such will bring out of us the nationalistic spirit needed for national development,” he stated.
“Not until we feel we are one in this country…some people live in Nigeria but do not believe in this country. So we need to do something; not by force but through love, sitting down and talking. We need to sit down by inclusiveness, by extending to everyone a chance to live properly in this great country. I believe in one Nigeria and, above all, I believe this country can be great again.”
‘The Church too divided’
Asked about his expectations from the Nigerian Church, he stated: “My first and major expectation from the Nigerian Church is unity, oneness. The Church is too divided, it’s a major problem, but, to me, it is a major expectation that God will do something. It’s not a new problem, it’s a problem that has been there, and, actually, I will tell you my impressions about it. It has troubled me so much. If you look at Church history, you will see exactly what I am saying. Take a look at what happened in Turkey which used to be Constantinople; you have the Ottoman Empire next to it that eventually took it over. When you say Paul of Tarsus; where is Tarsus? In Turkey. The seven churches recorded in the book of Revelation were in Turkey; but, today, the Christian population in Turkey is 0.000. It’s almost nothing, it’s hard for the mind to comprehend.
Many years ago, the greatest church building, probably the greatest and most beautiful building in the world, was the church building in Constantinople and that was the first place the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire went to. What caused it, how did it happen, why did Christianity lose out there? It is this disunity. There was a big problem between the Western Church and the Eastern Church. I don’t even want to tell you what the problems were; it’s so shameful! I don’t want to be quoted because the things don’t make sense.
Then go to a place like Egypt, a fully Christian nation for over 1,000 years. In fact, the city of Alexandria in Egypt was the centre of Biblical studies for many years. Over 1,000 years of Christianity before Islam conquered it, the same problem among Christians opened the door. They crossed from there into Sudan which was also totally Christians, and, from there, to Libya; the same story and now this is Nigeria. And I started asking myself some questions; a few weeks ago, the Lord began to open my eyes to something. If you read the Old Testament, you will discover that God said that someone will betray Jesus, but He never mentioned a name. Judas became that someone. In other words, what God was saying was that anyone who was available, the devil will use him and, when you study the book of Luke, the Bible says, ‘And Satan entered him.’
‘Judas spirit in the Church’
“What I am telling you is that the spirit that entered Judas made him to commit suicide eventually, but the spirit didn’t die. You know spirits don’t die. That spirit is still in the Church and that is the problem of the Church. We betray each other; we compete with each other, we will do anything to destroy each other; we are so individualistic in our thinking. Then there are those who take it a little bit higher, they are denominational in their thinking, sectionalism; it is this same spirit of Judas that has torn the Church apart to the point where a pastor and his secretary will have a misunderstanding and the secretary will call a press conference.
“We are excited washing our dirty linens in the public. You see, if you offend me, I feel the best way is to call a press conference; but in the meantime, every press conference you call is pulling down the Church; not one person, the whole Church. But we don’t see it, we don’t get it. And yet there are three important things in the scripture that the Church seems to neglect. Number 1, you can check the scripture out, Jesus said if your brother offends you, go to him. The Bible doesn’t say call a press conference. If he doesn’t listen, Jesus said take two more people with you and go to him. Again, he didn’t recommend a press conference. He said if he still didn’t listen, bring him to the church and let the church deal with him. That was Jesus’ recommendation.
“If you continue to read, you will find where Apostle Paul asked: “Is there no wise man among you?” Why should you take yourselves to the courts of the world? And, today, for example, I have a case in Kano and another in Kaduna. The one in Kaduna was thrown out by a Muslim judge. It’s not because I did anything. It’s just this CAN President thing and I was taken to court by the Chairman of the state CAN. Can you imagine? And when the Muslim judge saw it, he said he couldn’t handle the case, asking, ‘What is wrong with you people?’ He kept adjourning the case until, finally, we were able to work it out. There is one right now in Abuja by a Christian who took CAN, myself and one or two other persons to court.
‘How to save the Church’
“You just wonder, you see…do you know, today, as I speak, the case is still on. The Muslims got it right, they built an institution and the institution is called ‘Sultan of Sokoto’. Sultan of Sokoto is not a person, it is an institution. The only thing that will save the Church in Nigeria is to build an institution; not just CAN but the President of CAN must become an institution. Now, I don’t say this because of me, because I only have one year left and I am done. But someone will take over from me; he shouldn’t be treated the way I have been treated because, at the end of the day, it is the whole Church that loses. Do you know that, today, if you take a paid (critical) advert to a newspaper with the Sultan’s name on it, they will reject it? But if you take a (critical) advert to a newspaper and my name is on it, they will jump at it. In fact, some people can pay for it and put it on the front page and 90 per cent of Nigerian newspapers are owned by Christians. Something is wrong. Something is so wrong. This is what is going on.
“So my expectation is how we are going to solve this problem and what must happen; first of all is to have people because not everyone will get it at the same time. Some people will begin to see the big picture because, as at now, in my own opinion, 80 per cent of the Church only see a narrow picture of me or my denomination and that is not going to work for the Church. The second thing is to build this institution, the office of the President of CAN must be revered, respected, in fact, mystified if you want; lifted up there, made to be something that you don’t just touch, because when that happens, the Church will have a rallying point. When the Church has a rallying point, when there is an office, an institution that can say to the Church, ‘It is enough,’ and immediately it is actually enough; then we will start going forward.
“I was telling some people few days ago, ‘do you know that a local government Chairman can invite Church leaders across this country and say ‘I want to see you by 2.00 p.m. tomorrow’ and they will go: 1) for the recognition, and 2) for a little money’. I cannot do that. For example, I have the next CAN executive meeting next week or so, but I cannot guarantee that all the leaders will be there. Do you know there are those who will ask me; ‘Will you pay my hotel bill, will you pay my airfare?’ But like I said, if a local government Chairman says ‘come’, they will be there. Something is wrong. So, if we can first begin to see the big picture to raise this institution, respect it, honor it, and allow it to be the voice for the Church, believe me, the Church will be strong again and we will be able to withstand what is coming because something is coming but I don’t know what it is. I can’t explain it, but something is coming. So I have mixed my expectation with my frustration”.
Open doors
Oritsejafor noted that the theme for the Word of Life Bible Church convention, this year, ‘EPHPHATHA’, ‘Be Opened’, came to him in January, emphasising that the season we are going into now, God will begin to open doors that some people have given up on.
Also speaking on the significance of the Jubilee, described by many of the speakers, as coinciding with the Jewish Jubilee currently taking place in Jerusalem, the matriarch of Word of Life Bible Church, Pastor (Mrs.) Helen Oritsejafor, said the first thing is for Nigerians to realize that God remains God, no matter what we think or believe.
She also harped on the need for Nigerians to unite, arguing that it is the cardinal ingredient for the nation’s development at a time like this; adding: “This is the time to emphasize the things that bring us together and de-emphasize those that seem to separate us. Nigeria will be great and Nigerians will be great if we understand that God has made us as one and we must celebrate each other in unity and honesty in Christ Jesus.”
The lions den
In an interview with Sunday Vanguard, the CAN President spoke on the happiest and saddest moments of his life over the past 28 years of piloting the affairs of Word of Life Bible Church. “I think my saddest moment would be the day we started Word of Life, because it wasn’t something I was excited about. I didn’t want it. My spirit was low; I just wondered why, but it was like throwing me in a lions den. I was really troubled and didn’t sleep all through the night of Saturday into the Sunday that Word of Life started. I was really very troubled and sad, almost feeling very lonely. I almost felt like God forsook me,”Oritsajefor stated.
“There were too many questions I just couldn’t find anwsers to, maybe probably because I needed instant answers. Those who were there that day will tell you I wept openly. To me, that was my lowest point. From that low point, it just kept getting better and higher.
Doubts and predictions
“On the other hand, my happiest point would be when we dedicated this International Gospel Centre because it brought fulfillment and excitement and showed that God is actually faithful. It was a proof that God actually told me to do this. There were those who said I wouldn’t last three years. Others said probably seven years and all kinds of predictions. I don’t think I would like to get into all that but the word ‘fulfillment’ captures the whole picture. The building was a dream. I don’t dream very often but there was this night I slept and dreamt of a round building, huge. I didn’t hear any voice, I just saw a building and a lot of people.
“I woke up the next morning excited but troubled because, in my mind, yes, beautiful big building, but how do you actualize this kind of thing?; it was too crazy to think. Interestingly, about a week or two later, a gentleman, who used to be a member of this church—who is not an architect but an engineer—walked into my office. I cannot recollect what led to it, but I started narrating to him the dream I had of the building, that I saw a big round building and all that; I kept talking. He listened and didn’t say anything. He left me afterwards and, about two or three weeks later, he showed up with a full drawing of this whole thing and it was exactly what I saw.
“I didn’t give him details of what I saw. I just told him of a huge round building because I couldn’t describe all the details myself. I didn’t even know the young man well but he went and returned after three weeks with a full blown plan and had everything ready. And I said: ‘Goodness me, how did you come up with all this and how did you know what I saw?’ And he said that, as I was talking, everything just came to him. It had to be God because, like I said, he is not an architect but he got everything right and we took off from there and the next thing was: ‘Where is the money?”
Inviting the whole world
“I did a launching which was in a sense a flop…. I invited the whole world but the whole world didn’t show up. It was just members of Word of Life that were present, not even all members were present. I think some were frightened and didn’t show up that day. Some people made one or two pledges and, when I got home that day, I said to myself it was either this dream was not it or I got something wrong. But I encouraged myself after praying for a while and said ‘let us start this thing with the little offering that we had in the church’ and we started buying materials. But at a point, I got frightened because I had never seen such a thing before. I came here and saw the holes they were digging for pillars, it was too much, so I ran away and I didn’t come here for a long time.
The point is this; if you ask me how much we spent to complete the building, I don’t even know. I don’t know because there was never a time we had that kind of money kept somewhere. The reason is we never raised that kind of money to build after the launching that was flopped. It was just offerings and donation of building materials by certain individual members. So, you can see that the hand of God is in the whole thing. That’s why I said the dedication was the highest point. Dr. Morris Cerullo did the dedication. Look, when you think of the day Word of Life started, how low I was, then to now think of the dedication of this church and how high I was, it was just too exciting, too exciting, really fulfilling to the glory of God”.
A 42-year-old housewife, Mrs Doris Oseni, has told a Customary Court in Ondo town that she caught her husband of 12 years, Prophet Femi Oseni, on the floor of the church office, having sex with another woman.
The woman, who is also an Evangelist, therefore asked the court to dissolve her marriage on the ground of adultery, desertion and lack of love on the part of the husband .
The petitioner said her husband’s behaviour towards her changed after seven years of their marriage with no child, adding that since then, the defendant had been sleeping around with different women, most of whom were members of his congregation.
She added that after several days of abandoning her, she traced her husband to his church in a village not far from Ondo town.
She claimed that on getting there, she met her husband on the floor of the church office with one of the women in the church having sex.
She added that she reported her husband’s strange behaviour to his mother but that did not stop him from the alleged adulterous acts.
As a result of this she said she was fed up of the relationship, praying the court to separate them.
Doris also accused the husband of having a child out of wedlock, who she said was a product of his extra-marital affairs.
The 45-year-old Oseni pleaded with the court not to dissolve the marriage, saying he still loved the woman, whom he described as a virtuous woman that had been taking care of him since he married her.
In his ruling the President of the Court, Joshua Adunbi, said the words and body language of the wife had shown that she was tired of the union, therefore ordered for the dissolution of the marriage.
Adunbi added that both parties were free to re-marry any person of their choice and ordered the petitioner to pay the sum of N2,500 to the respondent as a refund of dowry.
He however noted that anyone of the parties that was not satisfied with the decision of the court could appeal the ruling within 30 days.
A pastor in South Africa has taken service and miracle to another level by asking his congregation to eat live snakes and assume it’s chocolate.
In series of pictures on social media, members can be seen opening their mouth to eat the snake at South Africa’s End Times Disciples Ministries in Pretoria, after pastor Prophet Penuel gave the bizarre request.
Those days, it used to be put your faith in God and water can be turned into wine, you can move mountain but these days, one is expected to see different things in the name of miracle.
The same Pastor, Prophet Penuel was earlier reported to have asked his members to strip naked before standing on them to pray.
It could also be recalled that Prophet Penuel instructed his members to drink fuel which he alleged would turned to pineapple juice.
As bizarre as it may seems, some of the members who ate the snakes said ‘I did as I was commanded and tasted the chocolate. It was different but tasted good’,
Another added: ‘I was not sure at first but when I bit the snake I realised it was the best chocolate I have ever eaten’.
Pic shows: One man eating a live snake. A church congregation were controversially ordered to eat a live snake and told it would become and taste like chocolate. Members of Prophet Penuel’s End Times Disciples Ministries in Soshanguve, Pretoria, in South Africa did as they were told and ate parts of the snake. Images posted onto the church’s social media sites show radical preacher Penuel dangling a live snake and dropping it into the mouths of his followers. Members of the congregation posed showing chunks of the snake they had bitten of in their mouths. After the strange event, a bizarre post on the churchís Facebook page read:”Man of God declared a snake to become a chocolate (chomp) and the congregation ate it. “We have authority to change everything into anything and it will obey because of our authority,” A member of the congregation said later on social media:”I did as I was commanded and tasted the chocolate. It was different but tasted good.” Another said:”I was not sure at first but when I bit the snake I realised it was the best chocolate I have ever eaten.” The controversial Penuel previously commanded his church to drink petrol and eat cloths. (ends)
A pastor, Onyekwere Osondu, 48, has pleaded with an Ojo Customary Court, Lagos, to dissolve his 10-year-old marriage, saying his wife eloped to Liberia with another man.
Osondu told the court that the wife, Ogechi, travelled to Liberia over a year ago under the guise that she went to stay with her brother,but he had cause to believe that she had found comfort in the arms of another man.
“Prolonging this matter is not pleasing to me; although the court made several efforts to get my wife or someone from her family to appear before the court, there was no positive response”, the petitioner said.
“I am a man of God and I must maintain my moral status; her absence has made me to live like a bachelor for over one year and that is becoming more unbearable.
“Since my wife abandoned me and went to Liberia, I need to move on with my life. I cannot remain single forever; I need to remarry”.
He told the court that his wife left home in 2014 for Liberia without his knowledge.
“It was in trying to search for her that her mother invited me to come to the village and that was when I learnt that she had joined her brother living in Liberia”, Osondo stated..
“Her family members summoned me and claimed that I maltreated her because she had no child for me, but this is not true”.
The petitioner explained that Ogechi later sent him a text message, which read, “God has delivered me from you and I have changed my name to my maiden name”.
“When I informed her that I had filed a divorce suit, she responded by saying, ‘thank God”..
“I am a man of God and I have carried out all traditional settlement required,” he said.
He alleged that his wife must have found comfort in the arms of another man in Liberia and prayed the court for a divorce.
“She is, obviously, fed up with the union and her refusal to return should not prolong the judgement of this court,” Osondu said.
Court President, Chief Joseph Ogunmola, however, ordered the court bailiff to contact any member of Ogechi’s family to witness the judgment, since all reconciliation measures had been exhausted.
CALABAR- PASTOR Seyi Adekunle of Living Faith Church, aka Winners Chapel was on Saturday evening abducted by gunmen who invaded the church while he and other pastors were having prayer session in the church in preparation for Sunday services.
The gunmen numbering five were said to have stormed the church at about 7.50 pm when the pastors were praying in the main auditorium of the church and shot sporadically into the air before grabbing the pastor and bundling him into their car and drove off.
“Normally on Saturdays, we have a number of activities but the pastors prayer session comes last, it was while the session was in progress that the boys came in, shot into the air and took our pastor away”. A source in the church told Vanguard.
Pastor Seyi who is the head pastor of Province Two of the Church located along IBB Way, opposite the Margaret Ekpo International Airport according to our source has been in charge of the church since 2014 and has been carrying out massive construction work in the crouch.
‘He came here in 2014 and has been doing a lot work through the construction of a massive complex for the church auditorium and office accommodation which might have given the kidnappers the impression that he has money to give them as ransom”.
When Vanguard visited the church at about 1.00 pm on Sunday afternoon, the second service in the church was in progress handled by Pastor Seyi’s assistants and there was police presence outside inside the hall and in the premises.
“There was no policeman on duty here yesterday when the incident happened but this morning we had to request for some policemen from the Airport Police Station close by and these six policemen you see here were deployed to forestall any recurrence of what took place last night”
Mr Hogan Bassey, the spokesman of the Cross River State Police Command says the kidnappers are yet to make any demands “but we are closing on them and very soon I shall inform you on how far we have gone” he said
Operatives of the Edo State Police command have arrested a pastor and four others for the murder of a welder, identified as Abu Iboje.
Cultists in Edo State
Abu was killed in April at his workshop along Upper Sokponba road in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the state.
The pastor, who identified himself as Greatman Ita, however, denied being involved in the killing of Abu.
He said he was arrested outside his shop by another suspect.
Another suspect, Lazarus Anthony, said he led other members of his cult group to kill Abu.
Lazarus, aged 21, said Greatman was the driver of the vehicle they used to commit to murder.
He said they killed Abu because a member of their cult group was earlier killed by Abu.
According to him, “I am a cultist and belong to black axe. Abu and his squad killed Kelvin at Upper Sokponba. The next day, I led my squad to kill Abu at his workshop. I used locally made gun.”
“It was Edoba that asked us to do the killing, This is the first person I have killed. After killing him, I became confused and did not know what came over me.
“I am pleading with the government to forgive me. I want to renounce my cult membership. We are many that are cultist in that street.”
Other suspects arrested are Sylvester Ikhifa, Obiosa Noble and Okeh Godstime.
It will be recalled that over 40 persons were killed in a renewed cult war before the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, ordered a clampdown on cultists in the state.
A former Commissioner representing Akwa Ibom State on the board of the intervention agency, Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Pastor Godwin Moffat Eyo was, Monday, convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment by an Akwa Ibom State High court for stealing 56 transformers meant for oil producing communities in the state.
The convict who was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a 56-count charge that borders on stealing and conversion of 56 electricity transformers released to him by NDDC for distribution to communities in Akwa Ibom state, was found guilty on 37 of those counts by Justice Idongesit Ntem B. Isua and sentenced to three years imprisonment on each of the counts. He was however discharged and acquitted on 19 counts. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The convict was said to have applied for 90 (Ninety) electricity transformers and 4 generators from NDDC for Akwa Ibom State sometime in February, 2006. Approval was given for 70 (Seventy) transformers but he diverted same to his house in Eket on the pretext that there was no space to accommodate the newly issued 70 units of transformers at the NDDC office in Uyo. He thereafter sent only 14 Units to NDDC office in Uyo while he withheld 56 units which he could not account for till date.
The 56 transformers are valued at Two Hundred and Twenty million, One hundred and Seventy Six thousand, Three hundred and Twenty Naira (N220, 176, 320).
One of the count reads, “That you Pastor Godwin Moffat Eyo being a former Akwa Ibom State representative on the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on or about 14th April, 2006 at Uyo in the Uyo Judicial Division did fraudulently steal a 300 KVA/33/0.415 Transformer Serial No. 1712496 valued at Four Million, Eighteen Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixty Naira (N4,018,560.00), property of NDDC and thereby committed an offence of stealing contrary to Section 399 and punishable under Section 404 of the Criminal Code Cap. 38, Volume 2, Laws of Akwa Ibom State, 2000”.
Aself-acclaimed pastor, John Ojebe, 50, has been charged before an Oshodi Magistrate’s Court in Lagos for allegedly obtaining N390,000 from one Hawo Umoru under the pretense of selling her Adonai oil to wash her private parts with.
Ojebe was also said to have conspired with two others, now at large, to commit felony, to wit obtaining money by false pretence and stealing N390,000 belonging to the victim.
The accused, whose address remains unknown, was said to have committed the offences at Sura Mogaji Street, off Coker Road, Ilupeju, Lagos State.
He was arraigned by the police on a three-count charge of obtaining money by false pretence and stealing.
However, when the charge was read to the accused before Magistrate Akeem Fashola, he pleaded not guilty.
One of the charges read: “That you John Ojebe, with two others at large, on April 13, 2014, at about 11am along Sura Mogaji Street, off Coker Road, Ilupeju in the Lagos State Magisterial District, did obtain N390,000 from one Hawo Umoru under the pretence of selling to her one Adonai oil for washing of her private part.”
Police prosecutor, Sergeant Kehinde Olatunde, informed the court that the offence was punishable under Section 410 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.
Following the application for the accused’s bail by his counsel, Mr. Michael Olisah, the magistrate granted him bail in the sum of N100,000 with one responsible sureties, who must have paid tax for three years and whose address should be verified.
The matter was adjourned till April 27 for further mention.
The Borno State-born pastor, Kallamu Musa-Dikwa, who accused the Christian Association of Nigeria of collecting N7bn from President Goodluck Jonathan to campaign against the All Peoples Congress presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has raised the alarm that operatives of the Directorate of State Service are after his life.
Marilyn Ogar, Spokesperson, DSS
While insisting that the Christian body collected the said amount, Dikwa said the DSS had forced him to sign a document which they would use against him to prove to the entire world that “the President (Jonathan) did not bribe CAN to work against the Presidential candidate of APC.”
Dikwa said the DSS planned to use the ‘document’ which he was made to sign under duress in some national dailies to portray him as telling lies against the body of Christ.
“They forced me to sign and promise to link me up with the CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, for us to ‘settle’,” he said
The cleric noted that all these were in addition to pleas from other Christian leaders, especially the Abuja CAN Chairman, to deny that the Christian body collected the said amount (N7bn).
The cleric in Kaduna, on Thursday, told journalists that after the DSS Operatives had treated him like a “common criminal,” they forced him to sign a document to deny what he had said.
According to him, since he broke the news to Nigerians of how the Christian body collected N7bn to work against Buhari, his life had been under threat.
Dikwa explained that as soon as he finished addressing newsmen on the alleged bribe, the DSS invited him to its headquarters in Abuja and asked him to say that CAN did not collect a kobo from the President.
The cleric said, “The DSS invited me to their office in Abuja. They wanted to know who gave me the information that CAN collected N7bn from Jonathan and I told them.
“They said all the people I mentioned will be invited. I told them to go ahead and invite them. I even told them how the money was distributed.
“They also said they wanted to know whether the opposition All Progressives Congress was the one sponsoring me to tarnish the image of the CAN and even mention Sam Nda-Isaiah (Publisher of the Leadership Newspapers) and I told them my relationship with him is not political, because since 2006, I have been with him. I told them he (Sam) does not know anything about my revelation on the said money.
“They also asked me what my connection was with the APC presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and Governor Rotimi Amaechi, and I told them there is nothing that connect us. I told them whatever I said was done for the love of my country.
“After sometime, they drafted a letter which said, ‘I, Pastor Musa… the information I gave that the President gave CAN money was false and that I won’t do that again.’
“They said I should copy what they wrote in my own hand writing. I have to do it because I was alone with them and I felt they could harm me and frame me up.
“They forced me to sign after writing what they drafted. I wanted to refuse but I feared for my life.”
The Christian Association of Nigeria has denied the allegation that its leaders were offered N7bn by the Presidency to campaign for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election.
The association also called on security agencies to investigate the Voice of Northern Christian Movement and its Executive Director, Mr. Musa Dikwa, for making the allegation.
The association also linked the allegation to those using different Christian organisations to perpetrate fraud.
In a statement issued on Friday in Abuja by the General Secretary of CAN, Dr. Musa Asake, the association said the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd), had fallen into wrong hands, “because his endorsement for the March 28 general election by Northern Christian Leaders Eagle-Eye Forum led by one Aminchi Habu was fraudulent.”
The statement read, “We are therefore calling on security agencies to investigate the activities of the Voice of Northern Christian Movement and Musa Dikwa himself to unravel the N7bn mystery which is intended by their sponsors to throw the country into serious crisis.
“For the avoidance of doubt, CAN has no knowledge of any N7bn transaction as alleged by Musa Dikwa who claims to be the Executive Director of a non-existent group, Voice of Northern Christian Movement.
“CAN is not a political party, let alone getting involved in partisan politics. Christians who are members of CAN belong to different political parties. It is therefore surprising to hear that CAN is campaigning for one candidate.
“Revered men of God including the CAN President, Pastors Ayo Oritsejafor; Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel and Pastor Bosun Emmanuel (Secretary-General of National Christian Elders Forum) are too upright to be linked with any such deal.”
The Nigeria Immigration Service in Oyo State says it has arrested a pastor and four others for alleged child trafficking in Ibadan.
Controller of the service in Oyo State, Mr. Innocent Akatu, announced the arrest on Saturday, noting that the accused persons were arrested in various locations in Ibadan.
He said the suspects would be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons for appropriate legal actions.
The service also paraded 12 boys and four girls for allegedly being used by the accused persons in child trafficking.
“We have young children being taken away from their parents under the pretext that the traffickers would get jobs for them or give them better standard of living,” he said.
The controller said many of them were brought into Nigeria from Republic of Benin, Togo and other neighbouring countries.
“They were sold into slavery by those who brought them into the country but the Federal Government will continue to fight human trafficking,” he said.
The controller said some of those arrested claimed that they were from Republic of Benin and Benue in Nigeria.
He made particular reference to a nine-year-old boy who claimed to have been brought from Benue to Ibadan by his brother and sold into slavery.
“These children do not receive the wages paid on them, the money goes to the people who brought them and so, it is pure slavery.
“Before, when we arrested children like these, we reconciled them with their parents; even the foreigners would be taken to their countries.
“But we now felt that the method did not help in checking the problem, that is why we are handing them over to NAPTIP for appropriate legal actions,” Akatu said.
Akure — HOODLUMS, weekend, invaded a church in Akure, Ondo State, during service and reportedly flogged the presiding Pastor and members of the church.
Meanwhile, the police in the state have arrested some of the hoodlums but they were later rescued by a mob, during which a policeman was stabbed with broken bottle on the neck.
Also, property of the church were destroyed by the hoodlums, who arrived the church on a motorcycle.
Property said to have been destroyed include plastic chairs, wall clock, window glasses and electrical appliances.
They reportedly inflicted injuries on the Pastor and members who were at the service.
Vanguard gathered that the hoodlums arrived the CAC, Pillar of Fire located around LA Primary School, Akure and dealt with the Pastor known as Pastor Arije.
Police sources said they were still investigating the incident, but Vanguard learned that a rival Pastor of one of the churches within the area might have sponsored the attack.
The hoodlums reportedly carted away the offerings for the day.
It was gathered that by the time the Policemen arrived the scene, the hoodlums had wreaked havoc on the church, but were chased to Odopetu in Oke Aro, where some of them were apprehended.
However, the hoodlums reportedly regrouped and rescued their colleague from the custody of the police. It was during their rescue mission that a policeman was reportedly stabbed by the hoodlums.
Contacted, the police spokesperson, Mr Wole Ogodo confirmed the incident, saying the Pastor reported the incident at the Divisional Police Station, Akure.
LAGOS — The Police in Lagos have arrested a member of New Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Ajah area of the state over the alleged death of two men during a spiritual bath, weekend.
The deceased identified as Abiodun and Ayinde Oniru, of same parents and one of their step-brothers were alleged to have been taken to the church by their father and step-mother last Thursday for spiritual cleansing.
However, after three days, it was reportedly suggested that they should complete the cleansing with a spiritual bath. But their step-brother reportedly refused and left the stream located in Ogombo area of Ajah, leaving Abiodun and Ayinde of ages 23 and 20 respectively behind with their step-mother and Pastor of the church identified as Pastor Samuel Olusoji.
Things reportedly took a tragic dimension, following report that Abiodun and Ayinde drowned during the spiritual bath. The case was said to have been reported at Ogombo police division, consequent upon which a team of policemen stormed the church.
Police sources said on sighting the policemen, Saturday, some members of the church located on 739, Ori-Oke Ibulun Ilasan Street, Jakande Ajah, including the Pastor, took to their heels.
Unfortunately for the church’s secretary, he was arrested and whisked into the police waiting van.
Police sources hinted that the corpses had been deposited at Mainland Hospital mortuary, Yaba, where autopsy would be done.
A police source said: “We are still on the trail of the senior Pastor of the church. He is currently on the run. He has questions to answer.
“Meanwhile, the autopsy report will form basis for our investigation. It is only then that we can be able to establish the cause of their death.”
A 30 years old Sri Lankan pastor has attempted suicide after being accused of having sex with underage followers in the name of God.
The pastor who lured his victims by asking them to donate their virginity to God, was arrested on Wednesday by the Chilaw Police Command.
The pastor, a father and a husband hails from Irattakulam area in Madampe, and has been a pastor at an undisclosed church in Pambala area in Chila for many years.
One of his victims (name withheld) who is now 19 years, and reside in Nattandiya, told the police that the pastor started the sexual abuse when she was 15 and had been having intercourse with her since then.
Another victim who also disclosed to the police of her ordeal in the hands of the pastor said that, the horny pastor had started having intercourse with her since she was 13 years old.
It was gathered that many women had accused the man of God but haven’t had the courage to report the case to the police.
The pastor is presently receiving treatment at Chilaw Hospital after consuming rat poison, and the two victims are presently undergoing medical examinations.
•Unseen spirits forced me to reveal the secret —Suspect
Authorities of the Police command in Osun State, on Thursday, paraded a 35-year-old man, identified as Clement Oyetunde, who was arrested with a human skull and other charms at Adeowo area of Modakeke, Osun State.
osun thieve
The state Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Marafa made this disclosure while briefing newsmen, at the headquarters of the Police command. He hinted that the suspect’s arrest was made possible through a tip off from some residents of the area.
Speaking through the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mrs Folasade Odoro, the Police boss said Clement, in connivance with one Wasiu, who is now at large, buried the human skull inside his house, located at Adeowo area, Modakeke.
According to him, the suspect, who confessed to the crime, said some unseen spirits were chasing him in the dead of the night and forced him to reveal how the human skull was buried in the house, which he was using as church.
Responding to question from journalists, Clement said “I am a pastor of the Cherubim and Seraphim, Oke-Itura parish, Adeowo area of Modakeke in Osun State. It was Wasiu that brought the skull to me. We buried it at my backyard. Wasiu left immediately and I don’t know his whereabouts, now.
“Few days later, while I was sleeping in the house, I heard strange voices singing and drumming in Christian way as if they were worshiping. The tune suddenly changed into traditional song and some invisible spirits started telling me that I should return the skull of Iya-Osun.”
“They told me that the skull we buried in my house was Mama Osun’s skull and that the woman was from Ondo in Ondo State. They insisted that I must return the skull and the noise was too much for me to bear as my head was swelling.
“That was why I ran out from the house and called for help so that the spirits would not kill me inside the house. It was then that the people in my area gathered and they eventually called the police,” Clement narrated.
While commending the people of the area, especially the landlord association and the vigilante men for providing useful information that culminated in the arrest of the suspect, Marafa assured that the police would apprehend Wasiu, stressing that the duo would face the full wrath of the law.
A female member of a congregation, Kemi Abbas, on Wednesday appeared in an Oshodi Magistrates’ Court in Lagos charged with allegedly stealing her pastor’s N52,000.
Abbas, 26, who resides at No. 216, Railway Line, Ilupeju, Lagos, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The Prosecutor, Mr Kehinde Olatunde, told the court that the accused committed the offence on Sept.30 at St. Christopher Spiritual Church, C&S Ilupeju, Lagos.
He said that the accused stole N52,000 belonging to her pastor, one Kolawole Oye.
“The pastor was attending to some members of his congregation during a counselling session when his phone rang.
“He could not hear the caller because of the noise of the generator set, so, went outside to receive the call.”
Olatunde said that when the complainant came back to his seat, he discovered that an envelope left on his table that contained N52,000 had disappeared.
“He quickly raised an alarm and threatened those he left in the office with death if the money was not immediately returned and confession made,’’ the prosecutor said.
Olatunde said that the accused fell on the ground and confessed that she saw the envelope but only took N5,000 and did not know who took the rest along with the envelope.
The offence, the prosecutor said, contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Section 285 stipulates three years imprisonment for anyone liable to theft.
The Magistrate, Mr Akeem Fashola, granted the accused bail in the sum of N25, 000 with one surety in like sum and adjourned the case until Oct. 30 for mention.(NAN)
The police in Delta State have arrested a court registrar, Pastor Jonathan Ojigbo in connection with the death of a teenage boy, Evi Samson at Ozoro, Isoko North Local Government Area.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the arrest on Saturday, said,”One Samson Uwhemw of Erovie quarters, Ozoro reported at the Police Station Ozoro, that on September 28 he took his son – Evi Samson to one Pastor Jonathan Ojigbo of God Solution Ministry Ozoro, who is also a Registrar in a Magistrate Court in Delta State for prayers.
“And that the said Pastor gave his son a black concoction to drink, following which his son developed swollen head and eyes in the night of the same date and later died on September 29.
“On receipt of the report, detectives swung into action and arrested the said Ojigbo. The suspect claimed that what he gave the deceased was a battle of coke.
“Items recovered on searching his house include some charms from his shrine behind the church.”
