It has been stated that a pastor by the name of Dr. Owen Abraham stole 52 phones, money, and other valuables from believers who attended a crusade that he organised at Aponrin in the Agbowo neighbourhood of Ibadan, which is located in the state of Oyo.
The man of God asserted that God directed him to travel all the way from The Gambia to Ibadan in order to participate in the crusade.
On the final day of the three-day campaign, Abraham claimed that the Holy Spirit commanded him to tell people to hand in their phones and valuables, and then he proceeded to abscond with those items. Abraham later explained that the Holy Spirit had told him to do this.
The victims claimed that Abraham, who had tricked them into participating in a three-day period of fasting and prayer, could not be located on the final day of the crusade, and their attempts to make contact with him were fruitless.
According to Mrs. Grace Akintola, a victim who spoke with the Vanguard, many widows took part in the crusade because the pastor promised to give each person a bag of rice and money at the conclusion of the event.
She mentioned that the pastor had also promised to provide financial aid to students in the form of scholarships.
Mrs. Akintola, a widow, related her struggle by saying, “The pastor approached an Igbo lady in our area to assist him in gathering widows and students, saying that he wanted to help us.”
Mrs. Akintola was referring to the fact that the pastor had approached an Igbo lady in our region. Someone in my region extended an invitation to participate in the crusade. He was dressed in the robes of a clergyman. He has promised that he will purchase a home and completely outfit it for one of us.
“The pastor promised some people who attended the crusade money; even politicians cannot give out such amounts as he promised,” the article continues.
On the final day of the evangelistic campaign, he sold us a bottle of water for N4,800. He claimed that the bottle of water contained perfume inside of it. She regretted the fact that many people had to pay for the water.
A student at the University of Ibadan (UI) who asked to remain anonymous and was also a victim said that the pastor told them not to eat for three days.
The kid made the observation that the evangelist took everyone's phones away so that they could concentrate on the prayers.
Because he insisted that no phone should ever ring, he went around and silenced every single one. In fact, a woman stood up and attempted to photograph him, but he quickly grabbed her phone away from her.
On the final day of the crusade, he said that he planned to return to the hotel where he had been staying in order to get some rest. Later, he told us that he intended to get something to eat at UI, but we have no idea how he got away with our items.
“Because he was a man of God, we had a lot of respect for him, but we didn't know that he was going to use the name of God to trick us,” said the student who was tricked.
In the meantime, Abraham has been marked as a wanted person by the locals, and posters with his name and a picture of him have been passed around the neighbourhood in an effort to locate him.
