Worshippers Rescued From Ondo Church Basement Refuse To Be Reunited With Families



There was drama at the police headquarters, Akure, Ondo State capital, when some of the 77 worshippers rescued from the basement of a church in the state refused to be reunited with their families on Monday.
The worshippers, including children, were rescued from the basement of the Whole Bible Believers’ Church, also known as Ondo Church, in the Valentino area of Ondo Town earlier on Saturday.
The believers said to be waiting for Rapture which the church authorities said would come in April but later changed it to September, this year.
Some of the parents whose children were in the congregation without their consent had reported the case to the police.
The church was reportedly holding a seven-day retreat when the police stormed its premises last weekend, rescuing 77 people including 26 children, eight teenagers, and 43 adults. It was said that some of them had been held for about three weeks before the rescue operation.
However, following their rescue, parents, and relatives of the victims had been visiting the Criminal Investigation and Information Department, CIID, of the police to take away their loved ones.

Wait For Rapture?
However, some of the victims refused to go with their families, insisting that they would remain with the pastor of the church.
But some of the relatives, told reporters that their loved ones must have been hypnotised by the pastor of the church.
The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Dr Juliana Osadahun, who spoke on the matter, also said, the government would meet with the police and relatives of the victims to get proper briefing on the incident and take appropriate actions.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Funmilayo Odunlami, had narrated the events leading to the rescue of the worshippers.
Odunlami said preliminary investigation had revealed that one Josiah Asumosa, an assistant pastor in the church had told members that rapture would take place in April but later said it had been shifted to September and told the young members to obey only their "parents in the Lord."
Odunlami noted that a family, who was also around during the rescue, said their daughter who is in a tertiary institution dropped out of school due to the strange teachings of the pastor and left home in January 2022 to start living in the church.