Sad But True
Pastor Arrested for Detaining 15 people in Torture chamber.
Apart from psychiatric hospitals, some Nigerian churches have been “taking upon the mantle” of healing mentally challenged people.
A pastor, Joseph Ojo, has been arrested for allegedly using his church, the Blessing of Goodness Healing Church, Ijegun area of Lagos, as a detention centre for mentally ill persons and persons suffering from various ailments and social vices.
Pastor Ojo was arrested after 15 sick persons, who were chained inside a building on his church premises, were rescued by men of the Lagos State Police Command, led by the Divisional Police Officer, Isheri-Osun Division, stormed the church on Wednesday following a tip-off by the National President of the Eagle Crime Awareness and Prevention Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, Samuel Adam.
Ojo, however, told our correspondent that the victims were chained because of their condition, adding that their parents brought them to the church for healing.
He said, “The people were chained because of their condition. If I did not chain them, they would run. Many of them had put me in trouble in the past and that was why I chained them. When I see that they are healed, I unchain them.
“This is not a psychiatric hospital; all of them came for prayers and they had been taken to different psychiatric hospitals before they were brought to the church for deliverance. I saw the medical papers of some of them and it was when their parents tried conventional medicine and they were not cured that they brought them here.
“We do chain them for around three to four months and it is their families that do feed them; some of their family members come every day; some weekly; and some live with their children in the church. You may think that they are healed; for instance, one of them carried a big stone and wanted to use it to break another person’s head before he was stopped.”
One of the victims, Adewale Adetona, who had been chained for eight months, alleged that he was kidnapped and brought to the church by his family, adding that he was not happy staying in the church.
The Oyo State indigene said, “One early morning, I was kidnapped from where I was sleeping and taken to the church and I was staying there until the police came to rescue everybody from the church. I am not happy staying at the church, because I have my own life to live. I am just here; I can’t live my normal life and do what I want to do.
“There was no negotiation for me to be brought here. There are unstable people in the church, so what am I doing here? I feel embarrassed being chained, but I am happy that we have been rescued; since I got here, they never removed the chains from my legs.”
Adetona’s mother, Monsurat, however, said she took her son to the church for spiritual healing, adding that his behaviour was embarrassing her in public.
“He usually misbehaves and I feel embarrassed about it. I have taken him to hospitals for healing before I heard of the church, where spiritual attacks are sorted out. But, if I told him to follow me there, he would refuse, that was why I forcefully brought him to the church in March this year and I have been seeing some improvement in his condition,” she stated.
Another victim, Solomon Ogbokri, said he was chained for eight months while supposedly being delivered of addiction to alcoholic, adding that his parents brought him to the church.
Solomon’s father, Godspower, said he took his son to the church after several attempts to wean him of alcohol and hard drug addiction proved abortive.
The 65-year-old said, “He goes about taking drugs like Indian hemp and roaming the streets; I prefer him in the church than roaming about, because he is now better. I don’t want him to go back to Ikeja, where he was taking drugs.
“I enrolled my son at the Federal Polytechni Ilaro, and another polytechnic in Ota, but he did not finish. I took him to the Fingers of God Rehabilitation Centre, the Synagogue Church of All Nations and the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, but there was no solution.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said the command had commenced investigation into the case, adding that 15 victims had been rescued from the church.
“We have rescued 15 victims and arrested 11 persons, including the pastor, Joseph Ojo. Some of the victims were said to have spent five years in the detention camp. The victims are between ages 19 and 50 and some of them were brought by their families. We have commenced investigation into the matter.”
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Man Video-calling His Girlfriend gets Crushed by a Car

On Wednesday, a 26-year-old man, Olajide Asade, was crushed to death by a commercial car, while he was making a video call to his girlfriend at the Adedero village on the Abeokuta-Siun-Sagamu Expressway.
The accident involved a Honda Odyssey car with number plate AAA 589 FV, which was conveying crates of eggs.
It was gathered that the deceased was reportedly making a video call to his girlfriend while crossing the road when the accident occurred.
An eyewitness told our correspondent that the deceased and his brother boarded a car from the Kuto motor park in Abeokuta, but the vehicle developed a mechanical fault on the road.
The eyewitness said while the other passengers were standing by the roadside waiting for the driver to repair the vehicle, the deceased reportedly concentrated on the video call.
The deceased’s brother, Azeez, said they were both travelling to their mother’s residence in the Ajah area of Lagos State.
Azeez confirmed that his brother had been making a video call to his girlfriend since they took off from Kuto in Abeokuta.
He added that they left their apartment at Ijoga in Abeokuta very early in the morning to embark on the journey.
Azeez maintained that the driver of the car, who hit Olajide, was on a normal speed.
The driver, whose car hit the deceased, Bolaji Balogun, said Olajide was the one who bumped into his vehicle.
Balogun, an employee of an agro firm, said he was going to the Obasanjo Farm to purchase crates of eggs for his company.
The driver stated that the deceased had already got to the front of his car before he could apply the brake.
Confirming the crash, the Public Relations Officer of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, said there were two male occupants in the vehicle that killed Olajide.
He stated, “There is a road diversion along the Abeokuta-Siun-Sagamu interchange due to the ongoing reconstruction; the deceased probably assumed it would be better and safer for him to cross to the other side, where road reconstruction is ongoing.
“The man, while crossing back to the other side of the road, was making a video call and was oblivious to the fact that a vehicle was coming from the Sagamu end to Abeokuta.
“The vehicle, a Honda Odyssey, hit him and he died on the spot.
“His corpse has been deposited in the morgue of the General Hospital, Ijaiye, Abeokuta, while the driver of the Honda Odyssey and the vehicle are now at the state Motor Traffic Division, Ibara, Abeokuta.”
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Ebonyi Man Whips 11-year-old Neighbour to Death

On Tuesday, an Ogbonnaya Daniel was arrested by the Ebonyi state police for killing the 11-year-old daughter of his co-tenant, Miss Ukamaka Nwuzor.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Loveth Odah, stated this in a statement in Abakaliki on Tuesday.
Odah said the matter was reported to the command’s ‘B’ Division, Kpirikpiri, Abakaliki by the deceased’s father, Peter Nwuzor.
She said following the beating, the victim was taken to the Alex Ekweme Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (AE-FETHA) for treatment where she was confirmed dead.
Odah said the suspect had been arrested and an investigation was ongoing after which he would be charged to court.
The statement read, “On May 2, 2020, at 2.15 pm, one Peter Nwuzor of Omege Avenue, Abakaliki, reported at ‘B’ Division Kpirikpiri, that by 9am of the same date, his co-tenant at the address mentioned above, one Ogbonna Daniel, aged 28, a native of Asaga in Arochukwu Local Government Area of Abia State, beat up his daughter Ukamaka Nwuzor, aged 11, to a coma.
“Following the report, police detectives immediately visited the scene of the incident. The victim was rushed to the A-E Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (AE-FETHA I) for medical treatment, but was later confirmed dead by the medical practitioner on duty. The corpse was deposited at the same hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a next-door neighbour of the deceased’s family and there was an altercation that the deceased (Ukamaka) poured unclean water near the suspect’s apartment. As a result, he descended on her, beat her to a coma, which led to her death.”
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Three Kidnapped UNIPORT Students Corpses Found

The decomposing corpses of three kidnapped University of Port Harcourt students have been found in a shallow grave, and the three kidnap gang members have been arrested by the Rivers State Police Command.
The suspects, apprehended on Thursday by the command’s Anti-kidnap Unit, also allegedly buried the remains of the undergraduates in a shallow grave at Etio community, Eleme Local Government Area of the state.
It was gathered that the UNIPORT students were kidnapped on April 7, 2020, and murdered the same day.
One of the suspects, who identified himself as Friday Akpan, from Akwa Ibom State, told journalists in the forest on Friday that two of his colleagues gang-raped the female among their victims, Joy Adoki, before eventually killing all of them.
The two other victims, who were also buried in a shallow grave, were identified as Nelson Nwafor and Fortune Obimba.
Akpan said, “We held the three persons at the sand field. All of us, five in number, killed them. They (victims) were three: two young men and a woman. Two among us gang-raped the female. Bright brought the gun we used in killing them. I am a member of Iceland.”
Speaking on the matter, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, said the command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit, led by its commander, Collins Shadar, a Chief Superintendent of Police, swung into action after the victims’ kidnap was reported to the unit.
He said, “They confessed to kidnapping the three undergraduates and taking them to the forest. They killed them and buried them in a shallow grave. They had earlier demanded ransom before they killed their victims.
“Their confession after they were arrested led us to this forest, where we recovered the bodies of these undergraduates. We have identified the corpses. One is Nelson Nwafor, the female is Joy Adoki, while the other one is Fortune Obimba.”
Omoni added that one AK-47 rifle, one pistol, three magazines and 72 rounds of live ammunition were recovered from the suspects.
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Ogun 17-year-old Raped to Coma, Dumped in Pit by Admirer

The Ogun State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a 28-year-old man named Godday Robinson, for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl into a state of unconsciousness and throwing her into a pit.
Robinson was reported to have dragged his victim into the bush, while she was returning home from work and raped her for rebuffing his love advances.
The incident occurred at Agbara in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
Oyeyemi said the suspect was arrested on April 24, 2020, after the victim regained consciousness in the pit and was rushed to a hospital.
The PPRO explained that the suspect was arrested following a report received by policemen attached to the Agbara Area Command that a young lady was lying unconscious in a 10-feet deep fit in the bush.
Oyeyemi said, “Upon the report by good Samaritans, the Area Commander detailed his men to the scene, where the young lady was rescued with the help of members of the public, and she was quickly taken to hospital.
“Having regained consciousness, the victim explained to the police that on April 22, 2020, while was coming from night duty, which she performed in the company where she works, the suspect, who had been making advances to her, accosted her, capitalised on the isolated nature of the area and dragged her into the bush, where he raped her.”
Robinson was also accused of dispossessing his victim of her Galaxy Samsung phone valued at N85,000 and strangulating her until she passed out.
Oyeyemi stated, “Having believed that she was dead, he dragged her further into the bush and dumped her in a pit.
“After some time, she came back to life and started shouting for help.
“On the strength of her explanation, the Area Commander, ACP Bolanle Muritala, gave an order to his detectives that the suspect must be traced and apprehended.
“The detectives swung into action immediately, traced the suspect and got him arrested.
“On interrogation, the suspect made a confessional statement and owned up to the crime and blamed it on the devil.”
The PPRO said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Kenneth Ebrimson, had ordered the immediate transfer of the suspect to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation and diligent prosecution.
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