Rivers Pastors Arrested with Live Cartridges, Coffins, Calabashes, Pictures, Other Items

• Two suspected fake pastors have been arrested by police operatives in Port Harcourt, Rivers state on January 20, 2025
• State police spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, identified the pastors as Umoren Bassey and Elijah Aniete from two churches
• Iringe-Koko said bizarre items were found on the premises including live ammo, a sword, coffins, calabashes, and spiritual items

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 7 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international events

Port Harcourt, Rivers state - The police have arrested Pastor Umoren Bassey of God Deliverance Apostolic Church and Pastor Elijah Aniete of Power House of Glory International Church in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

The youths of Rumunduru in Oroigwe reportedly arrested the two pastors on Monday, January 20, 2025, and handed them over to the police.

The state Police public relations officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, said both churches are located along Eneka Road in Rumunduru, Obio-Akpor local government area of Rivers state.

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As reported by Vanguard, Iringe-Koko said the two pastors, who are 60 and 51 years old, respectively, are natives of Akwa-Ibom state.

The Police spokesperson said bizarre items were found on the church premises, including a live cartridge, a sword, two wooden coffins, calabashes, and various spiritual items.

Other items include fake naval passports, thousands of people’s pictures and passports, children's shoes, coconuts, Bibles, police uniforms, and bottles containing unknown liquids.

Iringe-Koko, however, said that contrary to initial reports, no pythons or big caskets were found among the items.

Pastor Bassey claimed he had been using spiritual materials for prayer for 17 years and accused the community youths of planting some of the items found in his church.

He also stated that the youths had searched his church without a warrant.

“Some of the pictures you saw there is that of my son and some are that of my members. I use the small casket or miracle life oil to pray for mad persons. The mad person must be calm within three months. I use it to help the community people."

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Meanwhile, the Youth President of Rumunduru, Henry Worlu, said the vigilante commander told him they saw the pastor in the centre of the road at midnight.

Worlu said they went to the pastor's house in the morning but the pastor denied this, saying he had nothing to with devilish things and he did not deal with them.

“So we asked the man we came to see to allow us to see his compound, but he refused entry... We opened one of his chambers and we saw all manner of things," the youth leader said.

Pastor arrested for N1.3bn fraud, money laundering

Legit.ng also reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested a clergyman on charges of defrauding people.

Ebonyi was alleged to have promised victims up to $20 billion but required them to register with his foundation for approximately N1.8 million.

Following his arrest, the EFCC said the pastor would appear in court once the initial investigation into his alleged fraud operation had begun.

Source: Legit.ng