NIGERIA. Ondo State: In total, 77 people—including 26 children, 8 juveniles, and 43 adults—have been freed from a possible kidnapping at The Whole Bible Believers Church in Ondo Town, the state’s Ondo West Local Government Area.
The state’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Funmilayo Odunlami, claims that information about the alleged occurrence was obtained from members of the public. This led to the police team’s successful rescue.
Odunlami continued, “Police in the state received a report regarding a group of minors being housed at The Whole Bible Believers Church and the police team swiftly responded to the call by sending Policemen to the church to invite the Pastor and the members of the Church.”
“Preliminary investigation showed that one Pastor Josiah Peter Asumosa, an Assistant Pastor in the Church, was the one who told the members that Rapture will take place in April. But later said it has been changed to September 2022 and told the young members to obey only their parents in the Lord”.
“My daughter dropped out from school because of the unusual preaching of her Pastor and left home in January 2022 to start living in the Church.”
Odunlami stated that the two pastors were being held by the police and that an investigation had already started. “The results would be made public very soon,” he added.
Sources close to the church have claimed that the children were not being held against their will and are part of a programme organised by the church.
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