DISGRACEFUL IN THE ‘HOUSE OF GOD’:
JAMES ABIODUN ADENIYI, Apostolic Church in Christ General Overseer Arrested for N7.2million Fraud…Collect money from Innocent Victims for Immigrant jobs Abroad, Foreign Travels
*Received N5.5 million cash from youths in his church for jobs placement Overseas
* ‘It costs me the sum of N1.7million to obtain passports and visas for my church members’-Prophet James Abiodun Adeniyi
BY ROLAND IGNATUS/BUSINESS REPORTER
INDEED SATAN HAS ENTERED INTO THE HALLOWED ‘HOUSE OF GOD’. PROPHET JAMES ABIODUN ADENIYI, the founder/pastor of the Apostolic Church in Christ, Freedom City International, has been arrested for extorting under false pretense from his congregation the sum of N7.2million in their desperate bid to travel Overseas in search of greener pasture.
This sweet-talking incumbent pastor who prefers to be called ‘prophet’ James was arrested by officers of the National Security and Civil Defense Corps of Nigeria, NSCDC for alleged involvement in a financial fraud against innocent victims to the tune of N7 .2million. The General Overseer was charged for defrauding the people on Immigrant Jobs’ secure and procurement of foreign traveling documents that were discovered to be false.
During the parade of Adeniyi in Akure, the capital of Ondo on Thursday, the NSCDC section commander, Awili Pedro, said the clergy had been arrested following complaints from church members who had deceived them.
Awili said the suspect allegedly betrayed an unsuspecting member of his N1.7m church by cheating on them to obtain passports and visas for their son. The pastor allegedly deceived some unsuspecting unemployed youth in his church by paying money to him, promising them jobs, saying that the teenagers paid the sum of N5.5 million into the pastor’s account, without being hired.
However, the NSCDC commander said that the trouble started for the suspect when one of the victims demanded the repayment of their money and the pastor failed to pay back, claiming he was not involved in the deal.
According to this victim, “Pastor Olamitekan introduced Omole, his accomplice, to the church, who had convinced the pastor to trick the unsuspecting victims.” NSCDC commander said the pastor had been dragged to court by the church boy, who had been cheated by Adeniyi, and demanded repayment of the money if he could not fulfill his promise.
One of the victims, Ms. Folashade Olukini, who spoke to a reporter, said that she paid the sum of N1.7m for procuring America visas for his son, but the pastor and his agent failed to obtain the visa. She explained that the agent had been on the run for the past two months, refusing to answer his phone calls and holding the responsible clergyman “Our pastor guaranteed that the agent was his personal assistant.”
Olukini said “I visited his church this year when he introduced his personal assistant as a travel agent who can help me get an America visa, and I approached them about my son’s visa. The pastor told me not to pay until there was an order from God, he called me in February to continue with the arrangement, and I paid for the visa by transferring the money twice to Olamitekan’s account, while they assured me that the visa will be ready before the end of April.
“After transferring the money to the Personal Assistant, he no longer answers my calls and disappears and his number is confiscated. I approached the pastor but said he knew nothing about it. He promised to come to the agent, but until now there was no news and I demanded the money to be refunded, while the pastor claimed to know nothing of what happened between me and the agent.”
Meanwhile, the suspect, Adeniyi, did not deny the allegations and declared his willingness to repay the money, “I agreed to pay the money back, the money was deposited into Omole’s account, but I promised to pay the money back, they just have to spend a bit of time.”
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