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Tag: pastor

  • Police nab pastor, Islamic cleric, two others with human parts

    Oyo State Police Command on Thursday paraded an Islamic cleric (Alfa), a pastor, and two others, who were allegedly caught with suspected human parts in the Ayegun area of Ibadan.

    The state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Odude, said Alfa, Sulaiman Hamed, 35, participated in the Fidau prayers for a dead man but later contracted two men to exhume the corpse because he needed the body parts for money ritual.

    The two accomplices – Olapade Saheed, 32, and Olatunji Abiodun, 26 – were later caught with the deceased’s head and other body parts, leading to the arrest of Hamed and Tope Akinyele, 45, who claimed to be the pastor of a church in Ojagbo, in the Oranyan area of Ibadan.

    Hamed said he usually paid N2,500 for human flesh which he used in making money charm for his clients.

    He said, “Someone introduced Saheed and Abiodun to me. I gave them N2,500 to help me find human flesh. We all met at Ayegun junction, Ibadan. Around 10pm, I took them to a grave where a body that was brought from Warri, Delta State, was buried.

    “I took part in the prayers for the deceased before he was buried. I left them (Saheed and Abiodun) there, but they refused to let me go. They said they wanted to sleep in my house that night. I got them a place close to my house.

    “In the early hours of the second day, they came to me with a cellophane bag. I did not check what was inside, but I hanged it on the wall of my house. I was on my way to my office in Ile-Tuntun when I saw them in the midst of a crowd with a human head.

    “I use human flesh to make money ritual for people and I pay N2,500 for the flesh. In this case, the charm was for myself. I did not ask them to cut off the head and it was not in my possession when the police came.”

    In his statement, Saheed said Alfa paid them N1,500 to do the job and that he took them to the grave of the deceased.

    “Alfa called us for a job at Ayegun. When we got there, he showed us a grave three houses away from his house. After we finished the job (of exhuming and cutting off body parts), he took what he needed from the remains of the dead man and asked us to dispose of the rest.

    “We left early in the morning. But on our way, a local vigilance group stopped us and asked what was in the bag we carried. They beat us up after realising that there was a human head and other body parts in the bag. The police later came to arrest us,” he said.

    Odude said the police would continue to rid the state of criminals, noting that the suspects would be charged to court at the end of investigation.

  • My wife uses her private part to invoke curses on me, Pastor tells court

    Pentecostal Pastor, Bernard Towoju, has urged an Igando Customary Court, Lagos, to dissolve his marriage to his wife, Abosede, for allegedly using her private part to invoke curses on him.

    Mr. Towoju, 53, said in his divorce petition on Monday that “I cannot continue to make love with a woman who always goes naked and swears for me with her private part”.

    According to him, Abosede is stubborn, wayward and troublesome.

    “She once came to my office to fight me and tore my clothes in the presence of my colleagues. We fight on daily basis and hurt each other a lot.

    “We always land in the police station after our fight, in fact, we are regular customers at the station,’’ he said.

    The petitioner accused his wife of threatening his life, adding that his wife always hit him with dangerous weapons whenever they quarreled.

    “I had to run away from the house I built 10 years ago to rent an apartment for safety.

    “She chased me with cutlass, bottles and sticks; our neighbours can testify to that.

    “I am afraid, I cannot sleep under the same roof with her with my two eyes closed,” he said.

    He begged the court to dissolve the marriage that the love he once had for her had faded and he could no longer tolerate her ill-nature and troubles.

    The respondent, Abosede, a fashion designer, accused her husband of calling her a witch.

    “He said everywhere he went for solution to his problems, they always tell him that I am behind his predicament.

    “My hands are clean; I know nothing about his woes.

    “Towoju abandoned me and the children 10 years ago, I have been taking care of the children,” the 46-year-old woman added.

    The mother of four urged the court not to grant her husband’s request for the dissolution of the marriage, saying “I still love him”.

    In his judgment, the court President, Akin Akinniyi, said the petitioner was adamant despite all mediation from the court and family.

    “Since the petitioner insisted on divorce after several interventions, the court has no choice than to dissolve the union in spite of the fact that the wife still claims she loves her husband.

    “The court pronounced the marriage between Pastor Bernard Towoju and Mrs Abosede Towoju dissolved today, both parties henceforth ceased to be husband and wife.

    “Both are free to go their separate ways without any hindrances and molestation,” Akinniyi ruled.

  • Pastor arraigned for allegedly duping worshipper of N1.1m

    A 40-year-old man, Femi Adewale, who claimed to be a pastor was on Thursday arraigned before Chief Magistrate B. B. Adebowale of an Ota Magistrates’ Court in Ogun for allegedly collecting N1.1 million under false pretences from a worshipper.

    Adewale collected N1.1 million from one Ibukun Aderonmu, with a promise to assist her to solve her spiritual problems.

    The accused of No. 22, Farinde St., Ijako, Ota, is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and obtaining money under false pretences.

    The prosecutor, Cpl. Abdulkareem Mustapha told the court that the defendant and others, still at large, committed the offences on Sept. 14 at Ijako area of Ota.

    Mustapha said that the defendant and his accomplices collected the money with a promise to help Aderonmu to solve her spiritual problems, an agreement he did not fulfill.

    He said that the offences contravened Sections 390(9) and 419 of the Criminal Code Vol. 1, Laws of Ogun, 2006.

    The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

    The Chief Magistrate, Mrs B. B. Adebowale, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum.

    She said that the sureties must be residing within the court’s jurisdiction and swear to an affidavit of means.

    Adebowale also ordered that the sureties should show evidence of tax payment to the Ogun State Government and submit four recent passport photographs to the court.

    The case was adjourned until Jan. 22, 2018 for hearing.

  • Reverend, assistant pastor jailed for drugging, raping women in Church

    A 59-year-old assistant pastor at the Liberty Pentecostal Church, in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England, Laurence Peterson, has been jailed for more than 8 years for helping a church minister, Rev. John Wilson, to sexually assault female parishioners.

    On several occasions, Peterson blocked doors and held victims down as a 70-year-old Rev John Wilson performed “grotesque” exorcisms on member of the congregation.

    A jury heard Peterson may have also laced the women’s tea with drugs to make them more compliant.

    The offences have reportedly left the victims mentally scared.

    Peterson was found guilty of counts of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and two charges of aiding and abetting Wilson to commit sex acts.

    Also Rev Wilson was jailed for 21 years for a string of sex offences against six women.

    The Pastor’s wife, Mary Wilson, was also found guilty of aiding and abetting her husband, and was handed a 22 month suspended sentence.

    Peterson is also banned from holding senior positions in religious bodies or perform ministries.

  • Calabar Ritual saga: “Blood stains, organs found in my church is from goats, chicken,” says pastor

    Police authority in Calabar Cross River State, yesterday, paraded one Pastor, Tony Obo, alongside six others of the Pastor of a who were arrested over allegation of ritual killing of an 18 months old infant the state.

    The embattled pastor who goes by the name “Rev. Dr. Tony Obo” of Royal God’s Commandments Ministries International” was paraded before newsmen.

    Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Hafiz Inuwa who was represented by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Irene Ugbo told newsmen that the suspects will “immediately” be charged to court and also introduced the mother of the18 months old infant whose body part with blood stains was believed to have been seen with the pastor when the police stormed his church on a tipoff.

    “We have come to show the world that the people are still in our custody. There is no way the police can release any murder and kidnapping suspect without due process. They are already here.

    We are going to charge them to court immediately. The other suspects are here because they aided in the abduction of the little girl. They will be charged alongside the pastor to the court. The body of the baby has not yet been found”, the police added.

    The mother of the baby, a 20-year old Faith Inyang explained that on the fateful day last Thursday around 3.am at mid-night, three armed men broke into her house and forcefully took her baby away from her.

    She gave the name of the child as Success, noting that the baby was her first and only child.

    According to her at day break, with the help of a neighbor, they suspected a young man who was confronted and they were able to trace that the baby was carried to Pastor Obo’s church. At the church, the pastor was seen in a blood stained dress while the little child may had been dismembered and its inner parts removed. The Police was called in immediately, she noted.
    Tony Obo, the pastor, told journalists he was not guilty of the allegations against him.

    When asked about the blood stains he was caught with within his church and the body part (human heart) that was seen where he was caught, he stammered and said the blood found in his church belonged to a goat, which he used for his prayers.

    Also that the heart found was that of a chicken and all the charms and other fetish items found in his church were what the children used for acting whenever they wanted to present a drama.

    The main auditorium of Obo’s church located at Okon Edak street of Atamunu in Calabar South and the Branch of the same church in N0. 6 Abua street also in Calabar south local government area were both demolished by enraged youths who heard how the Pastor was caught with the alleged blood and body part of the infant.

    When the church buildings were demolished and ransacked; altar desecrated, found items in the altar included ladies and men under wears, wooden dolls of men and women tied together with their photographs, photos of persons being pad locked, dresses, shoes, and some fetishistic items.

    Some residents in Calabar who know the pastor have alleged that he is associated with fetish and diabolic practices as well as a lot of controversies including the mysterious death of two of his sons on the same day two years ago.

  • I am ready to become a pastor- Tonto Dikeh declares

    I am ready to become a pastor- Tonto Dikeh declares

    Fans of Tonto Dikeh were stunned when she declared that she has given her life to Christ.

    The controversial actress, whose marriage to Olakunle Churchill was annulled, said she doesn’t mind becoming a pastor adding that she was close to becoming an evangelist before she became an actress.

    “Before I became an entertainer I was close to becoming an evangelist but I backslid. But not to say anything, I am back with God. I don’t know where God is taking me to. But if it is the pulpit, I am ready”

    When asked If there is a possibility of her remarrying, she said:” Love is a beautiful thing and love is exquisite. So, of course, I will remarry once I find true love”.

    Dikeh often gets criticized on social media for her new found faith . She noted that even If she wasn’t born again, the criticisms would still have been intense.

    Hear her:” If I wasn’t born again, they will still come for me. You see, the devil cannot steal from an empty barrel; you have to be fully charged. I will go through a lot of things, whatever is happening now this is nothing compared to what is yet to come. What I have seen is not even half of what will come in the future. I am ready for more; there will be worse to come and I’m ready for it. When God prepares you in a different kind of way, I can fight my battles on my own strength”.

     

     

  • Vanuatu elects pastor as president

    Vanuatu elects pastor as president

    Tallis Obed Moses has been sworn in as the new President of Vanuatu at a brief ceremony in the country’s capital Port Vila.

    One of 16 candidates that included former prime ministers and public servants, Mr Moses won the ballot as the ninth head of state after four rounds of voting.

    Mr Moses, 63, is a long-serving pastor and former leader of the Presbyterian Church in Vanuatu.

    He replaces former president Baldwin Lonsdale, who died suddenly of a heart attack several weeks ago while serving in office.

    Although the Vanuatu presidency is often seen as a ceremonial position, Lonsdale was widely revered in the Pacific nation, in part due to his handling of a corruption scandal that shook the country in 2015.

    Dan McGarry, the media director of the Vanuatu Daily Post who was at Parliament this morning, said Mr Moses’ reputation as a man of “impeccable moral character” was a decisive factor played a significant role in his being elected to succeed Lonsdale.

    Mr Moses had received religious training and education in Australia and Papua New Guinea before serving as head of Vanuatu’s Presbyterian Church.

  • Pastor’s wife commits suicide in Ondo

    A Pastor, Adeolu Babatola, is helping Police detectives in Ondo State to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of his wife, Opeyemi Babatola, whose body was discovered, on Monday, hanging in an uncompleted flat in their compound in Akure, the state capital.

    It was gathered from a Police source that the 52-year-old mother of three hanged herself in an uncompleted flat in her residence located in Aule area of Akure metropolis on Friday.

    The husband of the deceased, Pastor Adeolu Babatola, who reportedly discovered the decomposing body on Monday, quickly informed the Police.

    It was learned that the husband told the police detectives that the deceased informed him that she was going for a church programme, until her decomposing corpse was discovered three days later.

    A family member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the woman might have killed herself because of one of her children said to be in prison’s custody over a crime, as the hearing of the matter is this week.

    The source said: “She told her child and her husband that she wanted to go to a mountain to pray. So since Friday her husband was thinking she was at the prayer mountain praying for the family because that was not her first time of doing so.

    “On Monday morning, the husband went to the back of the other apartment in the house and discovered that there were many houseflies on the window and decided to open it only to discover the dangling body of his wife and he raised alarm.”

    It was gathered that immediately the news of the incident broke in the area, the Police was invited to the scene, but they could not do anything to untie the woman.

    Hours later, some traditionalists were invited to bring down the corpse.

    The family source added that the husband, Pastor Babatola, is in police custody undergoing interrogation.

    Contacted, the police spokesman, Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident, noting that detectives have commenced investigation.

    Joseph said that “the husband is with us and helping us in our investigation. He narrated his side of the story and we are still investigating his claims.

     

     

  • Pastor buys car for Muslim girl who converted to Christianity

    The General Overseer of Omega Power Ministries, OPM, Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere presented a Mazda MPV car to a Muslim woman, Miss Ganiyo Sherifat who converted to Christianity.

    The car presentation was made known to the public via a statement published on the church’s offcial facebook page yesterday.

    According to the statement, the beneficiary, Miss Ganiyo Sherifat, a Muslim who turned Christian is a pupil of OPM free nursery and primary school Port Harcourt.

    The Osun state indigene was said to have been rewarded for emerging the best preacher in a Sunday service preaching competition.

  • ‘I see people mourning Desmond Elliot’- Pastor cries out

    A certain Pastor, Celestine Michael stunned many when he took to his Facebook page announcing that he saw Desmond Elliot being mourned in a trance.

    In his words:” While praying on some issues on the mount this morning,I fell into a trance like it happens most times I pray. I saw some persons mourning Desmond Elliot the Nollywood actor, script writer and movie producer now turned politician.

     

    “Please family join me pray that no evil agenda succeeds over him and his family. That the lord will show him mercy anywhere he missed it, cause him to know God and fulfill divine purpose. Remember God reveals to redeem”

     

    Desmond Elliot who is a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly on the platform of the ruling party, is yet to react to the cleric’s prophecy