Paul Oyewole, a 43-year-old pastor, has been arrested for faking his own death in order to avoid paying his church members’ N3 million debt.
According to Daily Trust, Ondo-based Pastor Oyewole was brought before the Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, February 3 for prosecution.
According to Legit.ng, Pastor Oyewole borrowed the money from a church member simply known as Boyede Emmanuel, whom he promised to refund after seven days.
However, things did not go well for Pastor Oyewole because he was unable to return the money after the deadline had passed, so he faked his own death to avoid payment.
Pastor Oyewole was charged with fraud and deception when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Mosunmola Ikujuni.
According to Moremi Akao, the prosecutor, the alleged committed the crime between November 25, 2021, and May 7, 2022, in the Valentino area of Ondo.
Akao said:
“The defendant alleged to have falsely published and posted his obituary on WhatsApp after he had sent a fake alert to (a bank account) knowing fully that he did not have such an amount in his bank account,” he said.
“The defendant had earlier threatened the complainant (church member) on phone, with the intent to intimidate him, and also conducted himself in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace, by stripping himself naked in front of the complainant’s house.”
According to Akao, Pastor Oyewole’s offence is in violation of the 2006 Criminal Code of Ondo state stipulated under Sections 419, 86, and 125A(1)