Gunmen Kill RCCG Pastor in Lagos

The Resident Pastor of King of Kings Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Mile-12, Lagos, Bolanle Ibrahim, was yesterday shot dead by a yet-to-be-identified gunmen.

OPC abducts pastor during service

A pastor with the Christ Apostolic Church, Onigbogbo, Atan Ota, Ogun State, Pastor Olusegun Omoniyi, is critically ill after he was allegedly abducted and tortured by some members of the Oodua People’s Congress.

 It was learnt that 45-year-old Omoniyi had also gone into hiding after he was rescued by policemen from the Sango Area Command.

He said he feared for his life as the OPC members had threatened to recapture and kill him.

The Summons Post learnt that the OPC members were acting on the instruction of some relatives of Omoniyi’s late wife, Omolade, who had vowed to deal with him over the sickness and subsequent death of the woman.

Our correspondent gathered that Omoniyi and his wife married in 1999 and had a set of twins in 2000.

However, the twins were said to have died shortly after they were born.

It was learnt that since the death of the children, the couple had not been able to have any child, which resulted in pressures from Omolade’s family.

Early 2015, the wife was reported to have left the cleric despite entreaties from church leaders and relatives of the husband.

It was gathered that seven months after separating from the husband, the 42-year-old was attacked by a strange illness.

Omoniyi said, “She had told me that her family members didn’t want her to continue living with me, but I begged her to stay.

“However, sometime in 2015, I went for a church meeting when some of her family members came. They took away her property. Attempts at getting her family members to reconcile us were abortive as they said she had made her choice.

“However, in July 2015, I was told she was sick. On the instruction of the church leadership, I went with some other elders to give her N50,000. But her brother did not allow us to see her, saying I should go alone to see her. We refused.

“On February 6, 2016, while I was leading a church programme around 10am, four men entered the church. Two of them were OPC members and the others – Adebayo and Stephen – were my wife’s relatives. While I was on the altar, the two OPC members said they had come to take me away.

“I told them that I would not follow them since I did not know where they were taking me to. They beat me up and one of them showed me a gun and said if I didn’t cooperate, he would kill me.”

Omoniyi said he was thrown into a car belonging to his wife’s eldest brother, adding that he was blindfolded throughout the journey.

The cleric explained that he later found himself in Ijoko, the camp of the OPC, saying the men tortured him before taking him inside a clinic where his wife had been admitted.

“In one of the rooms, I saw my wife on the bed. Her legs were swollen and there was blood all over the place. I asked her why she left the house and what I did wrong

“While talking to her, my in-laws started beating me. I have never suffered such torture. I told my wife right there that God would judge our matter,” he added.

He said he sneaked into the clinic’s toilet where he made a call to a church leader informing him of his location, adding that the latter informed the police who stormed the area and rescued him.

It was learnt that Omolade died the following day.

The church leadership was reported to have sent a delegation to condole with the family, and Omoniyi also accompanied the men.

It was learnt that the deceased’s family allegedly attacked the group, insisting that Omoniyi must take his wife’s corpse with him.

“To appease them, I told them to find where they would bury her and I would bear part of the cost, but they refused.

“As I was leaving, they blocked the road and said they would burn the two vehicles we took there. The OPC members, who had earlier abducted me, came and dragged me to where the corpse was.

“After beating me again, they put me on the corpse and said I must die with her. They put me in a car with the corpse. I couldn’t recognise anybody until I saw some policemen who rescued me the second time,” he said.

Omoniyi said he was taken to a private hospital, adding that the location was not disclosed to protect his life.

He alleged that a top police officer was also backing his  in-laws, saying he had gone into hiding for security reasons.

He lamented that his wife’s family had taken away his landed property, adding that his life was in danger.

Our correspondent learnt that the matter had already got to the CAC supreme council and the church had not been able to resolve the case as Omolade’s eldest brother was a top pastor in the church.

Petitions were seen to be addressed to the Inspector-General of Police, Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Area Commander, Sango-Ota, Officer-in-charge, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Abeokuta, among others.

The petitions called for the arrest of Omoniyi’s in-laws and the OPC members for the alleged abduction and torture.

Our correspondent was told that nothing had been done on the petitions.

A top leader with the CAC, who did not want to be identified, said the case had become critical, appealing to Nigerians to rescue Omoniyi.

When contacted, one of the in-laws, Paul, said the case was a family matter, adding that he could not comment on it.

He said, “I am sorry; I cannot say anything about it. It is a family matter and only the family can talk about it.”

The eldest in the family also declined to speak with our correspondent.

The state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, promised to call back after checking with the area command where the case was reported to.

Lagos pastor arrested for harbouring and defiling young girls (photos)

The Lagos state command is currently investigating the general overseer of 'Tongue of Fire Restoration Ministry' for a case of abduction, defilement and abortion. On 30/6/2016, the command received a report that the suspect, a pastor with a church situated on Jacob Taiwo Street Oshodi was harbouring some young girls and freely having unlawful canal knowledge of them.

Upon receipt of the information, the X-squad unit of the command mobilised to the apartment and subsequently rescued 13 girls whose age ranges from 13 to 18years, consequently the pastor was arrested.

Further investigation revealed that the pastor who was in the habit of having sexual intercourse with the girls at will had also procured abortion for some of them. The suspect who is currently undergoing interrogation with the command admitted he had sex with only 6 of them. The victims have been taken for proper medical examination while the commissioner of police, Cp Fatai Owoseni has directed that the suspect be charged to court at the conclusion of the investigation.

SP DOLAPO BADMOS
POLICE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
LAGOS STATE COMMAND.  

source: LIB

My wife accused me of using “juju’’ to marry her, Pastor tells court

A Lagos pastor’s 19-year-old marriage has hit the rocks following the dissolution of the union by the court afters the pastor alleged that his wife accused him of using charms to marry her. The 50-year-old Pastor Idowu Abiola has finally separated from his wife, Esther, who accused him of being fetish and marrying her with ‘juju.’

An Alimosho Customary Court on Tuesday gave the order after the pastor had sued for divorce on grounds of defamation of character. The court’s President, Alhaja S.O. Mumuni, in her judgment, said it was obvious from available testimonies and the respondent’s refusal to appear in court that the marriage had hit the rocks.

“Throughout the duration of this case, the respondent refused to honour the court’s invitation; therefore, the court has no other choice than to dissolve the marriage. “The marriage between Idowu Abiola and Esther Abiola is hereby dissolved from today in accordance with the Lagos State Customary Law, 2013, Cap.19.

“Both parties are no longer husband and wife, they are free to marry any partner of their choice without any hindrance or molestation,” she ruled. “My wife accused me of using “juju’’ to marry her when she saw a fetish object I recovered from a church member after a deliverance session and which I intended to burn.

“She moved out of the house five years ago to an unknown destination, claiming that I married her with charms. “I called her family to inform them of her action and they promised to talk to her and plead with her to come back, but up till now she has refused to come back, “he said.

Abiola accused his wife, who had failed to appear in court after several summonses of attempting to kidnap their children on two occasions. He added:“First, she came to the house without my knowledge and absconded with our three children.

“I received a tipoff from a neighbor and I rushed down. I saw them at a bus stop and rescued my children.
“After that attempt failed, she went to their school with a bus and a policeman to `kidnap’ the children but the school authority prevented her and called me.’’

The pastor said in January 2010, his daughter gave him a paper she saw on the floor while sweeping which revealed that his wife would remarry in April 2010. “Before my wife packed out, I saw the paper in which she wrote that she will remarry by April, she also wrote in that paper the name of the man she will be getting married to.

“I confronted her but she did not deny it. True to her words by April that same year, she moved out of the house.”
The petitioner tendered the paper as evidence in the court. The father of three said that a week after his wife packed out of the house, she returned to destroy his property.

“My wife damaged my window net and louvers, entered my house, tore all my clothes and destroyed all the photographs we took together including the ones I took with the children.” He pleaded with the court to dissolve the marriage since he was tired of waiting and that he would want to move on life.

Pastor rapes 13-year-old boy to cure homosexuality

A pastor with the Jesus Miracle Ministries, Awka, Anambra State, Ekene Adaoji, has fled after allegedly raping a 13-year-old boy.

It was gathered that the pastor was told by a traditionalist that his homosexual habit would be cured if he slept with a male teenager.

The victim, who hails from Ebonyi State, said the suspect tricked him by asking him to stay behind after a vigil.

He said, “The pastor told me to wait till dawn and when I insisted on going home, he applied a substance on my eyes which made me to sleep.

“When I woke up, I noticed that my trousers were torn and my anus was damp. I also felt pains in my anus. I went home to inform my people about what happened.”

A relative of the victim, Ngozi, said the family was not aware that Abuchi went to the church that night.

She said after Abuchi told them about what happened, they rushed to the church only to discover that the pastor had fled.

The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Nkiru Nwode, said the police had launched a manhunt for the pastor.

“The victim has been taken to a hospital for treatment,” he added.

In Enugu, Pastor allegedly marries mother, daughter

A pastor, Mr Timothy Ngwu, was on Monday docked at an Enugu North Magistrates’ Court for allegedly marrying another man’s wife, daughter as well as another woman.
Veronica Ngwu, the pastor’s wife was said to have petitioned the court over the development.

The victims whom Ngwu converted to his “wives’’ were said to be members of his church: Gods’ Favor Ministry, Nsukka.

One of the victims, Mrs Calista Omeye, however, told the court that her husband, Mr Fidelis Omeye, had persuaded her to meet the pastor as he wanted her to do the will of God through the pastor.

“My husband was a member of the church and he introduced me to the church, because he said that the pastor had a revelation for me (Calista).

She said the revelation had to do the will of God but he later left the church but I refused to leave the church with him.

“I have 10 children for him and we were all members of the church before he quitted and I had a baby for the pastor but the baby died after some weeks,” she told the court.

She said that it was with her husband’s consent that their daughter was given to the pastor in marriage.

“It is not true that I gave out our daughter in marriage to the pastor without the consent from my husband, he was aware of everything,” she said.

The pastor who hailed from Ihe-Owerre, Nsukka, was absent from the court as he was said to be on admission at an hospital in Enugu.

The presiding magistrate, Mrs R.I. Oruruo, adjourned hearing in the matter to Sept. 26.

In another development, the magistrate sentenced 17 youths from Amuzam-Ugwuaji in Enugu North Local Government Area to three weeks’ imprison for conspiracy and unlawful assembly.

The accused persons were in 2013 arraigned for malicious damage of a building under construction belonging to one Mr Charles Maduekwe, at Independence Layout, Enugu.

The complainant had told court that he invested over N20million on the project before the incident occurred.

Maduekwe said that he invited some military men to arrest the accused person who later handed them over to the police.

He said that the military men recovered harmers and other dangerous weapons used by the accused persons to perpetuate the crime.

Meanwhile, the President General of the town, Mr Emmanuel Nwafor, said that the disputed land belonged to the community.

No external body had ever claimed the land or bought it from the community, Nwafor said.

He alleged that the youths were waiting for the elders to allocate the land before the military arrived and whisked them away.

“We did not destroy any pillar or building as the land was covered by weeds. We only went there to share the land.

“It was when they refused to leave the land that some military men arrested them,” he said.

Ruling on the matter, Oruruo said that the evidence before the court showed that there was a conspiracy among the accused persons to commit a crime and unlawful assembly to breach public peace.

She, therefore, sentenced the accused persons to three weeks imprisonment each, with a N10, 000 option of fine. (NAN)

Drama as church members storm mortuary to ‘resurrect dead people’

There was drama at a Kenyan hospital – Webuye county hospital on Saturday when faithfuls from Temple of God church stormed the hospital’s mortuary “to resurrect the dead”.

According to five members of the church of more than 200 members, they had been sent by the holy spirit to pray for the sick, heal them and resurrect the dead.

Led by a man who called himself prophet Daniel Wechuli, the three women and two men squad claimed to have healed several people through their prayers, that they have led healing prayers for people living with disabilities and they all got healed.

“We have been moving to various hospitals praying for the sick and most of then have been healed by faith,” Wechuli said.

Prophet Daniel Wechuli said that the holy spirit had spoken to them to come and resurrect people who had died prematurely.

“We are divine people who are anointed by the holy spirit to move to hospitals preaching and healing the sick without asking for any penny,” he said.

“We want to show people the power of God in their lives through our church that has been healing and restoring lives to God,” she said.

Another female member said that their task is only to pray and one’s faith is what matters if he wants to be healed.

“We have been to Malava hospital where we prayed and all the sick were healed and left the ward,” Wafula said.

She said that they started the prayers in July and have been to Vihiga, Kakamega and Malava where they have received overwhelming healing testimonies.

However, no one had resurrected by press time as the group kept on praying. Residents of Webuye jammed the facility to take a look at the strange incident.

Crime: Pastor, church member arrested for robbery

The Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos State, has arrested a 45-year-old pastor, Joseph Olude, and his church member, Rasak Raheem, for allegedly robbing in the Idiroko-Oke Odan area, a border community between Ogun State, Nigeria, and the Benin Republic.

Report learnt that Olude and Raheem were arrested by the operatives of the Zonal Intervention Squad, after a tip-off.

It was learnt that while the police arrested the two suspects, other members of the gang fled.

It was gathered that on Thursday, August 11, the police received information that a robbery gang was operating in the Idiroko-Oke Odan area, and dispossessing motorists of their valuables.

A businessman, who was moving money from Nigeria to the Benin Republic, was said to have put a distress call across to the police. The two suspects were thereafter arrested.

Olude, a father of five children, admitted that he owned a church, Elohim Cherubim and Seraphim Church, in the Hunbe, Ajegunle area of Ogun State.

The pastor, who added that Raheem came to his church for a special prayer, explained that he did not know that Raheem and his friend, one Bidemi, were armed robbers and kept guns on the church premises.

He said, “I have five children. I was arrested when the police found five guns on my premises.  It was my church member, Bidemi, who invited Raheem.

“Raheem was brought into my church in February 2016, after he was infected with a Sexually Transmitted Disease. He also owed a house rent. So, he came to live in the church. I did not suspect that he was bringing in stolen goods into the church’s premises.

“I knew the time when someone came to collect a gun from him. Bidemi usually dressed like a policeman. I did not know that he was a robber. Now, Bidemi has fled.”

Raheem, who hails from Abeokuta, Ogun State, said the pastor was aware that some robbers brought guns to keep with him in the church.

He added that the gang gave him (Raheem) N20,000.

He said, “The pastor and I are friends. I went to his church and a man called Bode from Cotonou brought the guns. I told the pastor that the guns were for safekeeping in the church and he said there was no problem.

“About two weeks ago, Bidemi called me that he wanted to use the guns around the border area. I said he should bring N10,000 when coming and he agreed.

“The robbers collected the guns and when they were done with the use, they paid another N10,000. I knew they used the guns to rob. It was a five-man gang.”

The Zone 2 police spokesperson, SP Muyiwa Adejobi, said the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, had ordered a thorough investigation into the case.

He said, “The suspects operated along border areas of Ogun State, Benin Republic and even Togo. The ZIS operatives were detailed to the scene and they arrested the two suspects along Madoga Road between Nigeria and the Benin Republic.

“The police recovered one AK-47 rifle fully loaded with 30 rounds of live ammunition, and 15 extra AK-47 ammunition. Effort is on to arrest the fleeing members of the gang.”