Police rescued about 77 people from a church in Ondo town is suspected of kidnapping children, according to Ondo State police.
Police initially suspected kidnapping or child trafficking, but a preliminary investigation suggests it was a case of church leaders holding their members prisoner through misleading doctrines, they claimed.
Some children were rescued from an underground apartment of a church on Friday night after the police responded to complaints from the community.
Whole Bible Believers Church may be found in the town’s Valentino district.
According to Funmilayo Odunlami, police spokeswoman in the state, the pastors and other members implicated have been detained by police. The investigation is ongoing.
Her account of how police freed the children and other church members who had been kidnapped on Saturday night was considerably more detailed.
Police in Fagun Division, Ondo town, had received information that minors were being housed at The Whole Bible Believers Church, also known as Ondo Church, she claimed.
Pastors and members of a church in Nigeria were attacked by police when they arrived to invite the pastor, according to a statement from Mrs Odunlami.
After an initial look, it was discovered that an assistant pastor named Pastor Josiah Peter Asumosa had told members that Rapture will occur in April, only to later shift it to September 2022 and tell the young members to only obey their parents in the Lord.
During the rescue, another family stated their daughter, a third-year student, dropped out of school because of the pastor’s unusual teachings and began living in the church in January 2022.
Rescuers from the church claimed to have extricated at least 77 people including 26 children under the age of 18, eight teenagers, and 43 adults.
“Police have detained the two pastors.”
Mrs Odunlami said that an investigation has begun and that the results will be made public.