By Abimbola Ogunnaike

An Ilorin based clergyman, Prophet Adeniyi James  is currently in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC ) for allegedly defrauding a member of his church to the tune of N3.9 million.

A statement by the Commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, on Saturday, 6 April, 2024 said the Ilorin Zonal Command arrested James on Tuesday, 2 April, 2024 for the alleged offence.

It was gathered that James is the General Overseer of Christ Apostolic Church, CAC, Freedom City Prophetic and Deliverance Ministry in Ilorin.

Oyewale noted that the victim, Oluwole Babarinsa, in a petition to the Commission, alleged that James called him out during a church programme sometime in 2021, declaring that he had a revelation that he (Babarinsa) would travel abroad.

“The petitioner said the cleric, in the course of giving the revelation, asked him about his preferred country, which he replied ‘Canada’ and they agreed to talk later in order to perfect arrangements for the trip.

“The petitioner said James later told him that he had a friend in Lagos who could help him facilitate his relocation to Canada, but at a cost of N1.7 million and N2.5 million for processing of flight ticket and travel documents, respectively.

“Babarinsa added that he had to sell some of his properties and took some loans before he could raise N3,980,000 which he gave the prophet to facilitate his quick relocation to Canada.

“After prolonged waiting with no result, the petitioner became agitated and began to query the prophet’s vision, prompting him to ask for a refund of his money.

“All efforts and entreaties to the suspect to refund his money yielded no positive result,” EFCC spokesman said.

The suspect would be arraigned in court after the conclusion of the investigations, Oyewale added.