CrimeScandals

Rescued Children At Bible Believers Church, Ondo Were Not Kidnapped But Awaiting ‘Second Coming (pics)

Dozens freed from church awaiting ‘Second Coming’ in Ondo Nigeria. Read the developing story here

Police in Nigeria have rescued 77 people, including children, from a church where they were confined in the south-western state of Ondo.

Some of them are believed to have been there for months.

A police spokesperson said many of them had been told to expect the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in April and had abandoned school to witness the event.

The raid came after a mother complained her children were missing and she thought they were in the church.

Police say they are investigating suspected mass abduction after the raid on the Whole Bible Believers Church in the Valentino area of Ondo Town.

The pastor of the Pentecostal church, David Anifowoshe, and his deputy have been arrested, while the victims have been taken into the care of the authorities.

A source said the parents of the victims who were apprehensive about their children abandoning them for the church reported the matter to the police. Some of them alleged that their children were hypnotised.

One of the parents of the rescued victims, Mr Michael Olorunyomi, said that he left the church because of alleged wrong Bible teaching but his child remained there.

He said, “I attended the church before and I left because of the wrong teaching the pastors give the members. The pastors teach the church members on the need to divorce their wives while husbands are to divorce their wives if they want to go to heaven. They turned the children against their parents by teaching them what is not in the Bible.

“When I left the church, my daughter refused to follow me. I made the mistake of leaving her behind. Before I knew what was going on, my daughter who was in 300 level in the university at the time dropped out and camped in the church waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is because the pastor said that there was nothing again in the world and rapture would come in September this year. They arranged a marriage between my daughter and one of the pastors’ family members. They said nobody should go to work, no school and they must do nothing other than to wait for Christ’s coming in the church.’’

The church’s assistant pastor, who identified himself as Peter Josiah, said he was the one in charge of the church and they only taught biblical teachings.

Josiah said, “I teach them what the Bible says about the second coming of Jesus Christ. The prophecy that is being fulfilled this time is showing that the rapture is close. I never even mentioned years to the church. I never taught them to run away from their parents. I only taught them the gospel. I told them to obey their parents in the Lord.”

In the same vein, the church’s pastor, David Anifowose, denied the allegation of hypnotising or abducting the victims, saying they only preached what he described as the undiluted words of God to the members. He added that they didn’t teach them to disobey or abandon their parents.

He stated, “We didn’t tell them to abandon their homes, they came of their own volition and they were accepted. It’s a lie that we said that Jesus is coming in September because nobody knows the time of His coming.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *