By Deborah Nnamdi
Youths of the Rumunduru community in Oroigwe, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, have arrested two pastors believed to be fake and handed them over to operatives of the State Police Command.
The suspect’s Pastors, Umoren Bassey, and Elija Aniete, were arrested on January 20, 2025.The suspects, aged 60 and 51 respectively, are natives of Akwa-Ibom State and were handed over to the police for discreet investigation.
The Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, while parading the suspects at the command’s headquarters in Port Harcourt on Thursday noted that preliminary investigations have revealed that bizarre items were found in the church premises, including a live cartridge, sword, two wooden coffins, fake naval passports, and thousands of people’s pictures and passports.
Other items recovered from the church include bottles containing unknown liquids, children’s shoes, calabashes, coconuts, Bibles, police uniforms, and various spiritual items. Notably, there was no python or big casket found among the items, contrary to initial reports.
She said Bassey’s church, God Deliverance Apostolic Church, and Aniete’s Power House of Glory International Church, are both located along Eneka Road in Rumunduru, Obio-Akpor Council of Rivers State.Iringe-Koko assured the public that more findings would be made available as the investigation progresses.
However, the arrest of the two alleged fake pastors has sparked widespread interest and concern online with many calling for greater scrutiny of religious leaders and their activities.
The Youth President of the Rumunduru community, Henry Worlu, who spoke to newsmen, revealed how the alleged fake pastors were apprehended by youths in the community.
He said: “I was called by the vigilante commander that they saw a man doing midnight, and the man happened to be a man they know very well; they call him pastor.
“They traced him down to his house. The next morning the youth went to his house to ask him to know what he was doing at the center of the road. When we got there, we asked him, but he denied it.
He said he was a pastor and that he had nothing to do with fetish things. He didn’t deal with them.
“We met him with Elijah, and we asked him. He said nothing that he came to see his friend to talk about maritime; we allowed him.
“So we asked the man we came to see to allow us to see his compound, but he refused entry. Until we opened one of his chambers and we saw all manner of Fetish things.”
