Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), have arrested Adeniyi Abiodun James, the General Overseer of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Freedom City Prophetic and Deliverance Ministry, Ilorin, Kwara state, for allegedly defrauding a member of his church.
EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, in a statement issued at the weekend, said Adeniyi was arrested on April 2 after a petition by one Oluwole Babarinsa.
Babarinsa, a member of Adeniyi’s church, accused the General Overseer of defrauding him of N3,980,000.
In the petition, Babarinsa alleged that the pastor prophesied during a church programme in 2021 that he would travel abroad.
The petitioner said the pastor asked him about his preferred country, to which he replied, “Canada.”
He added that they then agreed to talk later to perfect arrangements for the trip.
Babarinsa claimed that the clergyman told him that he had a friend in Lagos who could facilitate his relocation to Canada at the cost of N1.7 million and N2.5 million for processing flight tickets and travel documents, respectively.
Babarinsa said he had to sell some of his properties and took some loans to raise N3,980,000, which he allegedly gave the pastor to facilitate his relocation to Canada.
“After prolonged waiting with no result, the petitioner became agitated and began to query the prophet’s vision, prompting him to ask for a refund of his money.
“He said that all efforts and entreaties to the suspect to refund his money yielded no positive result,” the statement said.
Oyewale said the suspect would be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.
