A Gambian pastor has been declared wanted after he allegedly stole 52 phones and other items from worshippers who had attended his crusade at Ibadan, Oyo state.
According to reports, the pastor who goes by the name Dr Owen Abraham told the congregants on the last day of the event that the holy spirit had directed him to tell them to hand in their phones.
After the crusade, the man was nowhere to be found and all attempts to locate the clergyman has yielded no relevant outcome.
One victim, Mrs Grace Akintola who spoke with Vanguard stated that the clergyman had lured many a widow with a promise to give out bags of rice and cash; promising also to empower students with scholarships.
Mrs. Akintola said:
“The pastor approached an Igbo lady in our area to assist him to gather widows and students, saying he wanted to help us.
“Someone in my area invited me for the crusade. He wore pastor regalia. He said he will buy a house for one of us and that the house will be fully furnished.
“He promised some people that attended the crusade money. Even politicians cannot give out such amounts he promised.
“On the last day of the crusade, he sold a bottle of water for us at the rate of N4,800. He said perfume is inside the bottle water. Many people paid for the water.”
Another victim added:
“He said no phone should ring, that was why he collected all the phones. In fact, a lady stood up and wanted to take his photographs but he seized the phone from her.
“On the last day of the crusade, he said he wanted to go and rest at the hotel where he lodged. He later said he wanted to go and eat at UI; we don’t know how he escaped with our belongings.
As a man of God, we respected him a lot, we didn’t know that he wanted to use the name of God to dupe us”