Seventy-seven people were rescued Sunday from a church basement in Nigeria after pastors reportedly told themd to wait for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
RELATED STORIES: Churchgoers Save Two Tampa Girls From Being Kidnapped After One Mouths “This Is Not My Dad”
Police arrived at the Whole Bible Believer Church in Ondo Stat,e, and 23 of the people kidnapped were children-some were as young as eight,t as reported by Sky News. Additionally, some people were kept in the basement since last year as pastors continuously told them that Jesus Christ was returning for the rapture. One pastor said the church members said the rapture would take place in April but pushed the date further to September. One parent said he was separated from his child and they were attacked if anyone tried to gain access to the church.
“We had a case of suspected abduction. A parent walked up to a police station on Friday evenin,g and she said some of her children left home since last week but knew where they were. Policemen followed her to the place and they found out that it was a church and attempt to talk to the pastor and invite him over proved abortive and members who were around turned violent by attacking policemen who were there,” said Police Public Relations Officer, Funmilayo Odunlami, in a statement to This Day Live.
RELATED STORIES: Boy Gifted His Own Mansion And Has Several Luxury Cars In Nigeria
“However, at the end of the day, we realised that the church has been keeping the members in an underground room. Basically, what we heard was that the assistant pastor, Josiah, claimed rapture was going to take place by April but later said it has been changed till September. So, he encouraged most of them to stay behind. He also brainwashed the children to obey only their parent in the Lord. Aside from that, we also realised that some of these children left home to be in the church since January. Some even left school for that purpose,”
She added that the church’s pastors will be charged for the kidnapping once the investigation is concluded. However, Assitant Pastor, Josiah Peter, said he never brainwashed the members or removed them from their family members.
“I preach to them, what the Bible teaches. We have been in the church on the basis of God’s instruction through our pastor, Anifowose David. He instructed us to camp for seven days. I am not aware of kids who have failed to write examinations or adults who choose not to work again because of rapture.”
Some members said they were not manipulated by the pastors and were asked to enter the basement every Sunday. However, other members refused to leave the basement and cursed at the parents who came to rescue their children.
“Some of them said they have been there since August; some told us they got there in January this year.”