ENUGU—Five members of a 12-man fake prophesy syndicate, which connives with church owners to dish out fabricated testimonies to woo patronage and membership, have been arrested in Enugu.
The suspects, Obi Ejike from Ubaho, Okija in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State; Kuku Mary, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State; Oluwakemi Joy, Lagos State; Nwosu Chizoba, Umunze in Anambra State, and Peter Uchechi from Ebonyi State, were nabbed at Holy Ghost Park axis weekend, following a brawl between them on the sharing formula of their booty, which attracted the attention of a police patrol team.
The ring leader, Uchechi, revealed that they were foot soldiers recruited by the handler, who remains behind the scene to give contacts of church/ministry owners, who have struck a deal with him to bring people during crusade for fake testimonies.
According to Uchechi, “we operate in all the states nationwide. Once our boss calls, he will give us the contact of the church owner. “When we arrive, we will go through the stories with the prophet or church owner before the crusade starts. The idea is for the prophet to be familiar and abreast with the story.
Miracle hour
“When it is prophetic hour, the prophet will bring us out from the crowd to the pulpit. Thereafter, the prophet, who then pretends to be praying, will touch us and we will fall down. “The prophet will then reveal our life challenges, which supposedly brought us to the church for miracle, and we will confirm the story.
At that point, the congregation will erupt in joy not knowing that all they were witnessing was a written script meant to attract patronage and membership to the church.
“After the prophetic hour, offering time will follow. It is well designed to rake in money during offering. Some people will donate their cars, write cheques and make pledges.
There are a lot of problems in the society, so people are looking for quick fix.
“We were at the bus stop around P&T axis in Enugu, when police swooped on us. We had operated at a ministry at Emene, Enugu, and were returning to Abuja when altercation broke out over sharing formula of the proceeds, when police arrested us.”
Confirming the arrest, Police Public Relations Officer, Ebere Amaraizu, revealed that manhunt for other fleeing accomplices have been launched, adding “they will be prosecuted as they have made confessional statements.
“The public should be wary of new generational churches that spring up at every 10-meter radius in a desperate bid to eke a living for themselves.”
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