Suspected fake pastor, Prince Kayode Ogbeniola was arrested under suspicion of stealing a Samsung handset whilst he was in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
After a complaint by the Chief Security Officer of the church to the police, they arrested Ogbeniola and he was brought up before a Tinubu Magistrate’s Court and charged with stealing the device.
Apparently, in December, Ogbeniola went into the church and pretended to be just another worshipper. However, once inside the church he stole the Samsung handset belonging to Vivian Oji, another church member. He then made quick exit.
Ogbeniola was apparently confident that he didn’t get caught on this first occasion so he went back to the church a second time with the intention of stealing another device. However, Oji, saw Ogbeniola in the church whilst he was making a call on her phone.
Oji approached Ogbeniola, face to face, and asked him to return her phone, after which Ogbeniola apparently became angry at her accusations and attempted to physically harm her.
After the owner of the phone had been established, Ogbeniola, was arrested and taken to the police. Ogbeniola had been going to the church to preach and he claimed to be a “mobile evangelist,” he said.
Ogbeniola made a statement to the police in which he allegedly admitted committing the crime and he apparently begged forgiveness of the police using the excuse of poverty, frustration and the fact that his wife had recently divorced. He claimed that all thse circumstances made him steal the phone.
“When I stole the handset, the owner sent text messages to me twice to return the handset, but the devil told me to remove the sim card and replace it with my own, and I started using the handset,” Ogbeniola apparently told the police.
According to the police, Ogbeniola then went on to tell them that he had been a traveling evangelist for the last five years, who went about preaching to people to repent from their sins. However, he apparently said, he was totally surprised by his actions in stealing and he now seemed to be the sinner.
Ogbeniola later pleaded not guilty at the court and was remanded in custody pending his payment of the bail bond. He was taken to Ikoyi Prison until payment of the bail was made and he was set to appear again in court on April 15.