Pastor Adeboye: In 2019, Nigerians Must Vote Out Politicians Who Do Not Serve The National Interest

• The clergyman said this while speaking with journalists after a thanksgiving service held at the RCCG headquarters in Ebute Metta, Lagos.

Pastor E. A. Adeboye

Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, has asked Nigerians to use their voting power to send out political leaders who are not serving in national interest from power in the 2019 general elections.

The clergyman said this while speaking with journalists after a thanksgiving service held at the RCCG headquarters in Ebute Metta, Lagos.

Adeboye, who was represented by Pastor Johnson Odesola, said: “There is hope with God on our side, let’s be hopeful. Nigerians should look out for credible people, God-fearing people.

“Everyone should get their Permanent Voter Card; that’s our power. Every Christian should exercise their civic right of voting for the right person of their choice because the Bible says give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and the word of God enjoins us to pray for kings and those who are in authority.”

Adeboye also urged lawmakers in the National Assembly to pass the 2018 Appropriation Bill, warning that the year is already running out.

 “They should serve the national interest and not their interest even if they have issues, they should pass it while they are working on the issue," he said. "That’s why they are there; that’s why we talk about next year’s elections. Those who will not serve national interest should be shown the way out."

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BREAKING NEWS: Former Mountain Of Fire Miracles Ministries Pastors Accuses General Overseer Olukoya Of Illegal Importation Of Goods In US Property Dispute

• Daniel Olukoya, General Overseer of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), is in the spotlight in a US court after his group, one of Nigeria’s foremost Pentecostal churches, dragged some former pastors and members to court over monetary and property disputes. 

• The sued pastor and former church members have in turn accused the General Overseer of engaging in fraudulent activities in the US, including evasion of duties owed to US authorities.

Pastor Daniel Olukoya

In an action filed in the Circuit Court for Prince Georges’ County of Maryland, U.S.A., (Case No. CAL16-26532) on behalf of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries International, Lagos, and Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, USA, Nevada, the church is seeking declaratory judgment and damages against Pastors Lawrence Adetunji, Ronke Adetunji, and 11 former members of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Bowie, Maryland. 

Also joined in the suit is Christ the Truth Ministry, the successor of MFM Bowie.At issue are real property described as 5506 and 5503 Church Road in Bowie, Maryland, which were acquired by MFM Bowie in 2001 and 2004 respectively. 

Also in contention are funds for the MFM building in Bowie. MFM International (Lagos) claims that the property acquired with the contributions and offerings of the members of MFM in Bowie, without assistance of any form from Mr. Olukoya or MFM headquarters, are property of MFM headquarters by way of trust. The plaintiffs claim further that when Pastor Adetunji and most members of MFM in Bowie decided not to associate further with the denomination, Pastor Adetunji was under an obligation to hand over the properties and funds to MFM headquarters (copy of MFM Complaints attached).

In their response, the defendants allege that they decided to sever their relationship with MFM and its leadership because of the illegal and fraudulent activities of MFM International, Lagos. They allege that MFM International was in the practice of knowingly and deliberately making false claims to evade U.S. Customs duties and taxes on books exported from Nigeria to U.S.

Upon information and belief, the defendants alleged that the plaintiffs had willfully and intentionally evaded U.S. Customs Service duties and had evaded tax payments to the United States Government. They allege that the plaintiffs carried out these illegal activities for many years.

The nature of the illegal activities stems from the fact that the plaintiffs would ship prayer books (specifically, “70 Days Prayer & Fasting” and “Pray Your Way Into [current year]” to various U.S.-based MFM branches with a cover letter categorizing the books as “donations” to be distributed to local parishioners. However, once delivered to the United States, instructions were then emailed to U.S. pastors by MFM International and /or MFM USA instructing them of the price they must charge parishioners in selling these books. The pastors were then instructed to remit the earnings of their sales to MFM International.

The defendants disclosed that, although this practice had been going on for many years, on or about 2013, MFM International started shipping their books directly to U.S. Customs in Baltimore, along with the cover letter stating that the books were “donations” (page 2-3 of the Defendants’ Amended Answer and Counter Claim).

The Defendants asserted that they did not become aware of the illegal practice until 2015. They stated further that, when they became aware, having no power over MFM and its leadership “to influence or change their behavior had (sic) to sever all ties in order to curtail their (defendants’) unwitting participation in plaintiffs’ illegal actions.”

The defendants also argued that MFM International could not lay claim to the property because they contributed nothing towards the acquisition of the property, not even when the defendants requested for assistance by way of a loan to meet some of their financial obligations. They declared that no valid trust was created over their property for the benefit of the plaintiffs.

The case comes up for hearing on October 14, 2017. Some Officers of MFM International, including the General Overseer, Daniel Olukoya are expected to get into the witness box at the hearing.

In an earlier development, MFM brought a similar action before the Superior Court of Los Angeles, California, against Ade Oyeyemi, a former MFM pastor (Los Angeles County Super. Ct.N0. BC 352398). The Fourth Division of the Second Appellate District of the California State Court of Appeal ultimately decided the case in favor of Pastor Oyeyemi. 

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BREAKING NEWS: I am down with strange illness after my pastor, his sister lured me to Russia – Florence, Nigerian trafficked lady

• The war against human trafficking intensified in Edo State last week after whistle blowers informed security agents about the arrival of a Russian based alleged human trafficker,Vivian Ehioze.

Florence Inset: •Pastor Ehozie … suspected recruiter

 Consequently, she was arrested alongside her brother, Pastor Endurance Ehioze, said to be her recruiter. One of their victims was alleged to be a 23-year-old-lady, Florence Abu, said to have been trafficked to Russia for prostitution when she was 17. 
They were alleged to have been involved in trafficking several girls to Russia with Endurance allegedly using his position as a pastor to facilitate the recruitment of the girls from church. 
The state Commissioner of Police, Haliru Gwandu, whose men arrested the suspected traffickers, described the raid as a boost to the fight against human trafficking. 
While victim Florence, who was deported to Nigeria after she had suffered some strange ailment, is being treated at a hospital, Vivian and Emmanuel are cooling their feet in prison after a magistrate court in Ekiadolor asked them to be remanded.
They were remanded on a two-count-charge by Chief Magistrate E I. Bazuaye. The suspects, and two others still at large, were said to have committed the offense sometime in January 2013 at Idunwina Quarters, Ekiadolor, near Benin-City. 
They were alleged to have connived to procure Florence for the purpose of prostitution and other sexual exploitation. Meanwhile, Florence narrated her story to Sunday Vanguard. 
“It all started in 2012 when a pastor in my church, Endurance Ehioze, called me to say he wanted to see me.  
He asked me if I will like to travel out of the country and I said yes. I told him that I was constrained financially; so he said money was not the problem and that he had a sister abroad that will finance my trip. 
He further told me that I could pay off the sister off in less than two months after my arrival abroad. He added that I shouldn’t be afraid of making money abroad since and I am a good singer and hair stylist. 
The pastor further told me that I might be lucky to even come across a white man that will support me”, the victim started. 
“Later, he (Endurance} gave me her sister’s number in Russia called Vivian Ehioze. 
 When I flashed her, she called me and introduced herself. She asked me if I  was interested in leaving the country, saying as long as I was interested I should get my passport ready which I did by borrowing N30, 000 from LAPO, and I called her to tell her that my passport was ready.
 “She asked me to give the passport to Pastor Endurance (the brother) as he will handle everything. 
She gave me words of encouragement that everything will be fine. Few days later, she called again to say I should pack my luggage and take it to her mother’s place enroute to Lagos. 
But when I got to the mother’s place, she told me it was late to travel to Lagos that same day. 
The next morning, she woke me up and said there must be an agreement between us because many girls, when they get to Russia, don’t often pay her daughter back the money spent to take them abroad. 
So, she said, she must take something from me as an oath and that once I finished paying her daughter, I will have to pay her some money as well. 
I was surprised that Endurance, who is a pastor, encouraged me to undertake such oath. I had thought that as a Christian we will do it the Christian way. 
Finally, the mother took strands of hair from my head, armpit, private part and she also collected my pant for the oath taking”. 
She went on: “When I arrived Lagos, the next day, an elder brother of Madam Vivian (name withheld) came to pick me from the park and took me to a hotel. 
He brought out a slip of paper from his pocket and said it was my visa application and that it was genuine. 
He told me to relax and  that I should use what I have to get what I wanted. I was shocked when he took my phone according to an order from Vivian so that nobody might call to discourage me from proceeding on the trip. 
 I asked him how I will be able to communicate with my mother since he had collected my phone and he assured me that Endurance (pastor) will be the link man if I wanted to speak to my mother. 
“Immediately thereafter, he brought out a condom and asked that I should pull off my dress. I resisted him but he forcefully had his way. 
He said it should be a secret between the two of us and threatened that if I disclosed it to any one, something terrible will happen to me. He took me to his house and asked me to pretend about it. 
For the two weeks period I waited for my visa, it was hell for me in the house. He molested me regularly but thankfully my visa came in February 2013”. “When I arrived in Russia, Vivian came to pick me up at the airport and she took me to her place in Moscow. 
The first thing she did was to take my passport away from me. She said the passport now belonged to her.  The third day, at about 9pm, she asked me to dress up. She took me on a road walk during which I met several Nigerian girls prostituting on the street and that was how I was lured into prostitution.
 I started paying the money ($45,000} and once I finished paying, I was deported to Nigeria. Apart from that, I was inflicted with a strange ailment. Life was so unbearable for me so much so that I was put under medication for almost one year.
 The doctors treating me couldn’t handle my case. The doctors said other people with worse health situations had been treated and wondered why my own case was different. 
When I couldn’t bear it, I had to tell my mother about it. It was my mother that used to send me black soap and cream from Nigeria through courier to treat the ailment. At a point, it was my mother that was sending money to me to pay my house rent. 
Life there became difficult so much so that I had to go to Nigerian embassy in Russia for help before I was deported”. Asked if she was aware she was being trafficked for prostitution, Forence said: “I was 17 years old then. My madam lied to me that life was far better over there and that if I didn’t want to stay in Russia, I could travel to another country. 
I made all the  credits I needed at O’ level but there was no money to further my education; so when the opportunity came, I jumped at it. Besides, my mum was owing a huge debt and I wanted to help her because of the embarrassment. 
But what my madam told me was completely different from what I met in Russia. I was molested to point that I took ill. 
I was using gas water because of acute chest pain arising from the torture I received from my madam. Sometimes I will just collapse. I was always on drugs. And the she abandoned me in Russia and came to Nigeria to look for other girls to traffick. I couldn’t cope with life; so I was deported with other girls who were going through the same situation as l. If it is possible, some of our girls in Russia will trek back home because the suffering there is huge, some of them are beggars there. “ I want to advise young girls hoping to be taken abroad to work that all that glitters is not gold. 
Yes, abroad is beautiful, but if you are going to be trafficked by someone, you should cry out. Life there is not what they paint to you. Many girls out there are dead and their parents think they are alive. 
Out of the 300 girls deported in the last one year, about 100 of them are HIV positive. Our girls should learn trades and empower themselves rather than going abroad for prostitution. 
I want to thank Edo State Commissioner of Police because he has fought for me by apprehending my traffickers (madam and her brother). I came in contact with an NGO (Solomon Okoduwa) through one girl called Gift when we were at the NAPTIP detention centre in Lagos. 
Okoduwa has been helping me to settle down and was instrumental to the arrest of my madam and her brother” Corroborating the victim’s story, her other, Madam Josephine Abu, who wept profusely, said, “My daughter was assisted to travel through Endurance our pastor, who is the second in command to the senior pastor of our church. 
The suffering was too much for me to bear. He said since I was indebted to some people and I could not pay, he would help my daughter to travel abroad. He (Endurance) assured me that since my daughter is a hair stylist, she will make money in Russia. 
 For a long time, I didn’t hear from my daughter until she called to say she was seriously ill and could not bear staying in Russia any longer and had to be deported”. The National Coordinator of the Initiative for Youth Awareness on Migration, Immigration, Development and Reintegration (IYAMIDR), Comrade Okoduwa Solomon, who described Florence’s story as very pathetic, narrated how the suspected traffickers were arrested. 
“Information reached us that her madam was in town to recruit young girls to be taken to Russia. So, we contacted the police who swung into action by arresting the said madam and her brother.
 The Commissioner of Police and the NAPTIP acted wonderfully. Apart from this girl, we have other victims and that is why we are trying to reach out to Governor Godwin Obaseki to help us rehabilitate these girls. “They are our children and sisters, so that they can be assisted to be useful to themselves and the society. Parents should also caution their children against illegal migration”.

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