A clergyman, Pastor Azuka Ohez, of Kingdom Power International Christian Praying Center, Ishashi, and his wife, Mary Ohez, have been remanded in Ikoyi Correctional Centre over their inability to refund the sum of N38.8m tithes and seed offering paid by members of the church in Lagos State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the couple was arraigned before the Yaba Chief Magistrate Court in Lagos for allegedly aiding in defrauding a lubricant company to the tune of N33.8 million on a two-count charge of conspiracy and fraud.
The Presiding Chief Magistrate, Adeola Olatubosun, ordered that the couple be remanded in Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending when they will perfect their bail conditions having been granted bail in the sum of N10 million each with two responsible sureties each in like sum.
The matter was adjourned till 13th May, 2024, for trial after they pleaded not guilty before the Court.
The Prosecutor, Supol Rita Momah, told the Court that the defendants and some others still at large committed the offences on 13th July, 2023 at Oba Ayoka Street, Lagos, with one
Chijioke Ezekirian, who is a member of the church, who ‘sowed seed’ with the money in question.
The owner of the company, Climax Lubricants Industries in Lagos, alleged that Chijioke Ezekirian and the couple conspired to steal and receive the proceeds of sales from the company.
She submitted that the couple knowingly received the total sum of N33.8 million through a Fidelity Bank KPICPC account numbers 2033723459 and 5600923549 from Chijioke Ezekirian, an the offence that contravened Sections 328 (1) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Trouble started for Pastor Ohez, who is the Founder and General Overseer of the Church, when family members and servant of a Pastor of Deeper Life Church, Emmanuel Iheagwazi, who was transferred to the Northern part of Nigeria and handed over his company to his servant, Chijioke Ezekirian, started attending Pastor Ohez’s church.
When Pastor Iheagwazi visited Lagos from Sokoto State, he discovered that his wife, has dumped Deeper Life Church and joined Prophet Ohez’s church and reportedly paid tithes and offering worth millions of Naira because she reportedly received miracle and healing.
To show gratitude to God, the wife was said to have given the huge amount of money to the church and attracted some members of their family including Chidiebere Iheagwazi, Chinasa Luke (nee Iheagwazi) and Chijioke Ezekirian, who is a servant managing Pastor Iheagwazi’s company, who also made huge donations to the church in appreciation for the blessing they received from God through the church.
Pastor Iheagwazi reportedly went to Pastor Ohez’s church and asked for the refund of the offering money. But he was told that the church was registered with the CAC at Abuja as such the money was paid to the church’s account and not their own accounts.
This led to several petitions to the Nigerian Police and eventually their arraignment before the Court and remand in custody over their alleged conduct as the Police later discovered that the money was paid into the couple’s bank account.