A pastor with
a white garment church has just been arrested by the Special Fraud Unit,
Milverton, Ikoyi, Lagos, for collecting N70 million to treat a businesswoman of
fibroid.
The arrest of
the suspect, identified simply as Femi, followed a complaint lodged at the Unit
by the victim’s husband, over allegation that the former intended to eliminate
him and take over his property.The businesswoman, as gathered, had been
suffering from the ailment which defied medical treatment for 14 years, until
she was introduced to Pastor Femi, who promised to cure her. Explaining the
circumstances that led to his arrest, Commissioner of Police in-charge of SFU,
Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, said:
“A notable
Nigerian, who was living in peace with his family before the prophet came into
their lives, had reported a case of swindling of his wife, consequent upon
which we began investigation. “Facts of the matter is that wife of the
prominent Nigerian was having medical challenges as she was suffering from
fibroid. The woman met a female trader, who introduced her to Prophet Femi of a
Celestial Church in Oke-Ira, Ogba, Lagos. “The prophet assured her that he
would be able to handle the situation.” Lamorde, who was represented by SP
Ngozi Braide, said:
“They charged
the woman N98,000 fee, which she paid and Prophet Femi gave her some herbs,
which stopped the bleeding for a while.”.
He continued:
“When the
bleeding started again in 2014, she went back to the prophet, who brought in a
new twist to the matter. “He hypnotised the woman and convinced her that her
husband was responsible for her problems. Prophet Femi went further to convince
the woman that her husband was also after her children’s lives, accusing him of
being a cultist. “He went further to tell her that the bleeding was the source
of her husband’s money.
That the more
it flowed the richer the man would get. “The woman was asked to bring money for
sacrifices and rituals, which she paid into the prophet’s account. She also
built a five bedroom duplex at Ojokoro area of Lagos and another in Ado-Ekiti
for the prophet, upon his request. “The prophet also warned the woman to stop
sleeping with her husband and instructed her and her children to bring 70
percent of the money her husband gave to them monthly to him.
“For three
years the prophet would come and sleep in the man’s house, without his
knowledge. There was a time he allegedly gave the woman’s only son a concoction
to drink and he started behaving like a mad person. “He took him (son) to
Ekiti, gave him something to drink and he became normal again.”
The bubble
burst after one of the victim’s children, who came visiting from London, reportedly
paid in N20 million into the prophet’s account. She was said to have suspected
that all was not well, following which she reported the matter to her father,
who confronted his wife. Sensing danger, the suspect was said to have fled to
Ekiti, from where he was arrested. .
Displaying the
monetary transactions between the woman and the prophet, Braide said:
“After his
arrest, we discovered that one of his accounts read over N70 million, which was
paid in by the victim. “We learned that the prophet has two other accounts.
Preliminary investigation showed that the suspect had collected a chieftaincy
title in Ekiti with the money. “Also recovered were a Toyota Highlander 2014
Model and a Lexus GX 470 2014 model, which were bought for him by his victim.
The suspect did not deny all the allegations against him.
“He proudly
told us that he is a prophet and a native doctor. He told us that he helped the
woman and uses brain to collect money from her, since the family is wealthy.
“We have decided to bring this to the public domain to warn people about
fraudsters, who hide under churches as prophets or pastors. We have saved this
man (husband of victim) from death as that would have been the next plan.”
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