Pastor Enoch Adeboye
A
self-proclaimed architect, Opeyemi Oluwole, has been arrested by the
Lagos State Police Command for allegedly using a building project
proposed by the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of
God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, to dupe scores of people.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Adeboye
had announced during the church’s December Holy Ghost Service titled
‘Signs and Wonders’ that the church had a challenge of accommodation.
He had said, “The dormitories we have
are many but are not enough for the number of people that attend our
programmes so we need people to join us in building extra 2,000
dormitories in order to reduce the number of people sleeping on bare
floor in the church auditorium.
“The dormitories, we are hoping, would be ready before the next congress and anyone willing to help should get across to us.”
According to police authorities,
Oluwole, under the pretext of building the dormitories for the church,
tricked many people into paying money into his bank account.
Our correspondent learnt that the monies collected from victims ranged from N250, 000 to N2.5m.
It was learnt that the suspect however ran out of luck after he approached a member of one of the parishes of RCCG.
It was learnt that the member immediately reported the matter to the Ketu Police Division.
The member, who craved anonymity, said
the suspect had told his victims that he had been given the contract by
the RCCG to build the dormitories.
He said, “Oluwole approached me, saying
he had been given the mandate to build the dormitories and that some
companies had bid for the contract. He said some of the companies that
won were not financially capable of constructing the dormitories so he
was sub-contracting it.
“He said we would handle the contracts
but would have to use the names of the companies that originally won the
bid and we would get our money afterwards. He gave us his bank account
number and told us to pay N250, 000 as the initial fee for registration.
“However, I contacted the Project
department of the RCCG and they said they did not give Oluwole any
contract. They even checked past records and his name did not appear in
the files.”
When the police wrote the RCCG headquarters, the church denied knowing the suspect.
In a letter addressed to the police, the
church’s legal department stated that it was ready to pursue the case
to a logical conclusion.
The church also stated that it was not
possible for building project to be executed without the knowledge of
the project department.
The suspect however denied the
allegation, insisting that he had indeed been given the contract by
Pastor Adeboye to construct the dormitories.
He said, “Baba (Adeboye) told me to go
ahead with the dormitories. The agreement was verbal and there is no
written document. Some people gave me money for the drawings of the
buildings. Others loaned me money.”
Oluwole alleged that he and Adeboye had
entered into a secret arrangement on the building project without the
knowledge of the church authorities.
A police source, who craved anonymity, said the suspect was arrested a few weeks ago but was later granted bail.
The suspect however absconded soon after, making it difficult for the police to carry out investigations.
The police were however able to re-arrest him last Friday.
Our police source said, “After granting
Oluwole bail, the best thing for him to have done was to go to the
church and explain his predicament. We even offered to take him to the
church’s Chief Security Officer, who would have taken him to see
Adeboye.
“However, after some weeks, we did not hear from him again. He even moved out of his apartment.”
When asked why he jumped bail, Oluwole
said, “My house was dilapidated and I had to leave the place so that it
would not collapse on me.”
When contacted on the telephone, the
spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, said the police
had taken the matter to court.
PUNCH
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