A self-proclaimed architect, Opeyemi Oluwole, has been arrested
by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly using a building project
proposed by the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God,
Pastor Enoch Adeboye, to dupe scores of people.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Adeboye had announced during the church’s December
Holy Ghost Service titled ‘Signs and Wonders’ that the church had a challenge
of accommodation.
He had said, “The dormitories we have are many but are not
enough for the number of people that attend our programmes so we need people to
join us in building extra 2,000 dormitories in order to reduce the number of
people sleeping on bare floor in the church auditorium.
“The dormitories, we are hoping, would be ready before the next
congress and anyone willing to help should get across to us.”
According to police authorities, Oluwole, under the pretext of
building the dormitories for the church, tricked many people into paying money
into his bank account. A correspondent learnt that the monies collected from victims
ranged from N250, 000 to N2.5m.
It was learnt that the suspect however ran out of luck after he
approached a member of one of the parishes of RCCG. It was learnt that the member immediately reported the matter to
the Ketu Police Division. The member, who craved anonymity, said the suspect had told his
victims that he had been given the contract by the RCCG to build the
dormitories.
He said, “Oluwole approached me, saying he had been given the
mandate to build the dormitories and that some companies had bid for the
contract. He said some of the companies that won were not financially capable
of constructing the dormitories so he was sub-contracting it.
“He said we would handle the contracts but would have to use the
names of the companies that originally won the bid and we would get our money
afterwards. He gave us his bank account number and told us to pay N250, 000 as
the initial fee for registration.
When the police wrote the RCCG headquarters, the church denied
knowing the suspect. In a letter addressed to the police, the church’s legal
department stated that it was ready to pursue the case to a logical conclusion. The church also stated that it was not possible for building
project to be executed without the knowledge of the project department.
The suspect however denied the allegation, insisting that he had
indeed been given the contract by Pastor Adeboye to construct the dormitories. He said, “Baba (Adeboye) told me to go ahead with the
dormitories. The agreement was verbal and there is no written document. Some
people gave me money for the drawings of the buildings. Others loaned me
money.”
Oluwole alleged that he and Adeboye had entered into a secret
arrangement on the building project without the knowledge of the church
authorities. A police source, who craved anonymity, said the suspect was
arrested a few weeks ago but was later granted bail. The suspect however absconded soon after, making it difficult
for the police to carry out investigations.
“However, after some weeks, we did not hear from him again. He
even moved out of his apartment.” When asked why he jumped bail, Oluwole said, “My house was
dilapidated and I had to leave the place so that it would not collapse on me.” When contacted on the telephone, the spokesperson for the state
police command, Ngozi Braide, said the police had taken the matter to court.
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