Pastor ran away with congregants phones and money after a crusade

 

52 phones, money, and other belongings of believers who had attended a crusade are thought to have been taken by a Gambian preacher named Owen Abraham, who is said to have vanished in Ibadan.

The religious leader staged the crusade at Aponrin in the Agbowo neighborhood, claiming that he had been led by God from the Gambia to Ibadan, Oyo State.

The preacher reportedly said that the Holy Spirit had instructed him to tell everyone in attendance to turn in their phones, money, and other belongings on the crusade's last day.

He allegedly fled with those items though.

Many widows allegedly joined the crusade, according to Mrs. Grace Akintola, a widow, since Abraham promised to provide each of them a bag of food, some money, and scholarships.

She stated:

"The pastor said he wanted to help us and asked an Igbo woman in our community to help him gather widows and students. I was invited to join the crusade by someone nearby. He donned a pastor's robe. He promised to purchase a home for one of us, complete with furniture. He made financial promises to some of the crusade attendees. Even politicians are unable to provide the sums he promised. He obtained N4,800 for a bottle of water on the last day of the campaign. He said that the water bottle contains perfume. The water was paid for by several people.

Another victim, a University of Ibadan (UI) student, stated, "The evangelist collected their phones so that it would be out of their reach and they could concentrate on the prayers. Unaware of it, it was a ruse to get our possessions. He gathered all the phones since he said that none of them should ring. In fact, a woman got up and tried to capture his pictures, but he grabbed her phone. He declared he wanted to go to his hotel and rest on the final day of the crusade. We have no idea how he managed to flee with our possessions; he later said he wanted to go eat at UI. We greatly revered him as a man of God, but we were unaware of that He intended to deceive us by claiming to be God.

Aponrin has been covered in posters with Pastor Abraham's name and likeness, which has led locals to declare that he is wanted.

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