Hakeem Gbadamosi speaks with some relatives and church members of the Whole Bible Believer Church, also known as Ondo Church where 77 people allegedly hypnotized by their Pastors in readiness for the rapture were rescued.
Michael Olorunyomi
I was a member of that church and I was there for 32 years. Everything about the church changed when Peter Josiah became an Assistant Pastor to Pastor David Anifowose. He brought in destructive heresy and unscriptural practices into the church. We drew the attention of Pastor Anifowose to it, but he did not show concern.
Due to the incident, there was a problem and most of us, about 150 members, left the church. I left with my wife and two children but my first daughter, Priscilla, decided to stay behind. But later I started noticing changes in her behaviour at home. She became so rude. I told her to stop attending the church. I instructed her to go and take COVID-19 vaccine but she replied that the Pastor has told them (members) not to take it because it is a mark of the anti-Christ.
A boy was given a visa to the USA but the Pastor said he should not go; that rapture is coming, and the boy refused to travel. The pastor did so many things to jeopardise the future of these children. He stopped them from going to school.
My daughter withdrew herself from school without informing me. She left the Millennium School of Health Technology, Akure, at 300-level. She wrote a letter of withdrawal without my knowledge but with the approval of the pastors. They even arranged a marriage between my daughter and one of the pastor’s family members. They said nobody should go to work or school and they must do nothing other than waiting for Christ in the church. Look at every one of them; they look unkempt. He instructed them that they must not make their hair, because anybody that makes their hair will lose heaven.
After they were brought to Akure on Saturday, my daughter was released to me but my daughter said she will not follow me. She said until all those who were arrested are released, she will not follow me. At the end of the day, I overpowered her and took her home.Since we got home on Saturday night, she has refused to eat, up till this moment. She didn’t eat throughout yesterday(Wednesday). I’m seriously bothered because of the situation.
Temidayo Olanipekun
“I was in Lagos when I heard that my brother was among the victims rescued from the church. I had to rush down to Akure to confirm the situation.But the surprising thing was that my brother who I came all the way from Lagos to take back home refused to leave the police custody, even after he was released;he said that he would rather stay with the pastor. It was somehow strange to me.
Even others who were rescued also refused to follow their parents insisting that they cannot leave their pastor. To me, this is nothing but black magic. The victims should be rehabilitated in order to purge all the wrong teachings out of their brain and mind.”
Olaniyan Patrick
“I was here because since August 22 last year, I have not set my eyes on my wife with her four-month-old baby and seven-year-old daughter she took away. Truly I was a member of the church. I joined the church in 2007 but there was a crisis in the church in 2020 and I decided to leave but when I asked my wife to leave, she refused to leave.
Prior to the period my wife left home, the pastor and his wife visited my house and pleaded with me to return to church and I told him I cannot come back because of the new doctrines introduced in the church. The wife of the pastor also visited my home to see my wife. Though I didn’t know what they discussed, but the following day my wife packed out of her matrimonial home without any reason or quarrel and relocated to the church.
I reported the case to the police and they invited the pastor. My wife was brought to the station and the pastor agreed to send my wife back home but up till now, I have not set my eyes on my wife. She has been sleeping in the church bunker with the baby and her daughter. I learnt they were released, but I have not seen any of them.
The bunker in the church is usually used by pastors to change their cloth but it is now used for housing sisters who have divorced or left their husbands and all of them have been sleeping inside that bunker. The bunker is an underground room and that is where they live, eat and sleep without doing anything.
There was crisis in the church because of false prophecy by the wife of the pastor, but the elders in the church kicked against this and some other doctrines introduced into the church. Some of the elders left the church because of this, and these were the Trustees of the Church.”
Omoseebi James Oluwole
“My son is a student of Federal University of Technology, Akure,who claimed God called him and told him to leave his parents. Around February last year, during the COVID-19, we didn’t see him at home. I called my brother and he said I should come to Akure. I started suspecting something was wrong. I went to his school and called his school guardian and our search for Moses Ayobami led us to Ondo town.
When we got there, we saw the man who called himself the General Overseer, Pastor Anifowose. We told him we were looking for my son who was supposed to be in school in Akure. He said he was helping my son. He and one of his sons were violent. They wanted to beat us. We later took our son home. When we got to Ilorin, we told him not to go back to the church.
During last Christmas celebration, my son said he was going to Ondo to attend a prophetic service. I said he should not go. When my daughter was about to wed in April, I called my son, but he said he has to obey his spiritual father more than his own biological father. He said God called him as God called Abraham. He said God told him to leave his parents as Abraham did. He said I worship idols in Deeper Life. He is in 400-Level and a brilliant student but this pastor told them not to go to school again or do any work. I want to take him back home.”
Mrs. Jessica Akintemi
“I left the church because of the doctrine introduced by the new Assistant Pastor, Josiah. Most married women have been encouraged to leave their matrimonial home and divorce their husband in order to make heaven. The assistant pastor said he was called by God to rewrite the King James Version of the Bible as there are some things that are not right in the Bible and our children have been hypnotised with these teachings.
They have been instructed to keep their hair unkempt to make heaven. Look at all the women around, they will never make their hair and they have all been hypnotised that Jesus is coming in September.They were told to be ready to be raptured in April this year, but the Pastors told them Jesus had delayed till September and urged them to stay in Church for deliverance.”
Assistant Pastor, Josiah Asumosa Peter
“I didn’t tell them the rapture will come in September. These are all lies; I never preached anywhere to tell them that rapture is going to place in April or September. I only told them that the rapture is close and prophesy has shown that rapture is close but never mentioned year or date. I have not told them that I will rewrite the Bible. I only teach them the word of God. I told them about what the Bible says about honouring their parents.
Children should honor their parents in the lord. It is in the book of Ephesians Chapter 6 verse 1, which says ‘Children honor your father and your mother in the Lord’ and I never said anything outside that. Some parents have left the church and the children are still coming to the church; this does not mean we have disconnected them from their parents.
There are some things that are not right in the Bible that we want to correct. It is against our doctrines to allow women to preach in the church or anywhere. Again, we don’t believe in Trinity. There is nothing like God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; this is wrong and all these are against our doctrines and we have our proof. But we believe in rapture and it is coming soon.
“I never hypnotised anyone and never hindered anyone to go against their parents but they all stay in the church without any force. It is not even mandatory they follow my preaching, it is left for individuals to either take it or leave it.
We are in church on the instruction of the Lord that instructed us to come with him for seven days, no school, no work and no going out for seven days. It was on God instruction but the programme was rudely disrupted by these people with the invasion of police
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The Pastor in charge, Pastor David Anifowose
“I was the one that received the instruction from God that members should be in the church and wait for His second coming. They were only waiting for the second coming of Jesus when the policemen invaded the Church and arrested us. We had camped in the church as instructed by the Lord before it was suddenly aborted by people who forcefully jump the fence to drive us out of the church. We received the message to be in the church for one week through prophesy.”
James Anifowose
“Nothing strange is happening in the church; we were all expecting the coming of Jesus Christ even though the Bible says no man knows the day or the hour, but we are all in expectations.
The doctrine of the church is the doctrine of Jesus Christ; any man who must follow me should take up his cross and deny himself. We are only here on special camping because the Lord instructed us to appear before him for seven days, just as He had instructed Noah to appear before him.
The pastors never said Christ was coming in April, as no man knows the day and hour, and there is no time my dad said Christ was coming in April.
I am a student of University of Medical Science, Ondo. I studied Biotechnology but I’ve graduated and refused to go for my one year youth service because the criteria for youth service was based on having the COVID-19 vaccine. The Lord has spoken to us on it, that it is not what any child of God should take; that is why I’ve not gone for youth service because I am not ready to take the vaccine, it’s just vanity.
Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Adebunmi Osadaun
“We just interviewed some of the children who are between ages 11 and 17 years old. The way they spoke seems they have been brainwashed. They speak with so much confidence that God will soon come and they are on a seven-day camping. They have not eaten for seven days and they still want to go on fasting. What baffles me as a mother is that these children are already hardened, from the interview we conducted with them. They are already indoctrinated.
Some of the parents of the children even told us that they left the church when they started seeing some strange things. We also want to know if the pastor partially believes there should be no education;then was his own children not educated? But we were made to know that he has two children who are educated and graduated and now equally members of the church.
The parents also alleged that the children refused to take immunisation and the children confirmed that. They said it is evil to take immunisation. We also want to have a data base of the children through family tracing by the Ministry so that we can get how these children were hypnotised and indoctrinated. And if they need rehabilitation, then we would have to go legal by taking custody of the children. The way some of the children are talking, so of them should even be taken to rehabilitation homes. They are living in a different world entirely. They look so weird.”
Funmi Odunlami, Police PPRO
“We received Information about the activities of a particular church and its pastors and we reacted spontaneously and discovered 77 people being caged in an underground apartment within the church. The two pastors have been helping the command in its investigation; investigation is still ongoing and the picture is not clear yet over the activities of the two pastors.
Abduction is not a small offence but for us not to mislead the public, we need to investigate the issue to get the true picture of what happened. The fact remains that there was actually a misdemeanor of a church and the people around reacted and we went there to ascertain this but we just need to investigate and unravel the facts about the incident. We will make our findings public after the investigation.
However, some of the parents said if not for what happened, they were not aware that their children had left school while some said they were aware that their children were in church but didn’t know the church.
Despite all our efforts, some of these victims refused to go home, saying they were ready to remain in police custody until their pastor and his assistant are released.
We are trying to work out modalities on what to do with them to get them rehabilitated. We have over 20 of them who have refused to go home.”
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