Security forces rescued 77 people, 23 minors and 54 adults, held in the attic of an evangelical church in Nigeria, under the promise of the “second coming of Jesus”, in a case of “alleged kidnapping”, according to the Police Ondo State. .
“The preliminary investigation is ongoing,” said the spokeswoman for the Ondo Police, Funmilayo Odunlami, local media reported today, although the rescue took place on Friday.
It is a church-related matter: a pastor who claims that Jesus is coming soon and that the rapture (theological concept that refers to the ascension of all believers to heaven and the return of Jesus Christ) will take place in September and that he has received them to everyone in your house,” Odunlami added.
Some of those affected assured the average places that did not stay by force, but by willwhile the father of one of the rescued minors assured that his son insisted on camping in the temple after he decided to stop attending religious services, because “his biblical teachings were incorrect.”
According to a youth civil society organization in Ondo, those affected were detained for six months before being rescued.
The church’s pastor, David Anifowoshe, was arrested along with several subordinates and is currently in police custody pending the completion of the investigation and charges filed, police said.
Source: Observadora
