Nigerian pastor jailed in UK for stealing church funds

A former pastor of a Christian church based in Kildare has been convicted of a range of theft charges, involving more than €125,000, as well as multiple breaches of company law and deception.

As well as stealing money, Ebenezer Oduntan, former pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) City of David, ran an elaborate fraud, generating payments from the Revenue Commissioners.

Mr Oduntan, Curragh Grange, Newbridge, Co Kildare, has now been convicted of all 87 charges he faced.

When his bank accounts were analysed as part of a criminal investigation into his finances, he was found to have passed five times more than his declared income through his accounts for the years 2012-2018.

His trial concluded with guilty verdicts on Wednesday at Naas Circuit Court after a three-week hearing. He was convicted of nine company law offences, 73 counts of theft and five counts of deception.

Mr Oduntan’s trial was told he stole church funds, including cheques made payable to cash and cheques of up to €20,000 made payable to him personally. The Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) also said Mr Oduntan ran “an elaborate fraud” involving the inflation of donations made to the church, which resulted in the Revenue Commissioners reimbursing more than it should have under the Charitable Donation Scheme.

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He was investigated by the CEA, the Republic’s company law enforcement agency, and put on trial. During that three-week trial, evidence was heard from witnesses from the Charities Regulator, Companies Registration Office, Revenue Commissioners, AIB, Bank of Ireland, Life Credit Union, as well as from the current pastor and a number of members of the RCCG.

The trial also heard from a senior forensic accountant and member of the Garda seconded to the CEA for the purposes of carrying out criminal investigations. The CEA forensic accountant described a “total absence of standard financial controls and corporate governance procedures” within the church, which is a limited company, under Mr Oduntan.

The church he once led claims to operate on “a mandate to preach the gospel of Jesus to all people and nations, and its members to live a lifestyle of holiness”. It also defines itself as “a bible believing church under the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit”.

The church is based at Naas Enterprise Park, Naas, Co Kildare, and at one point had a membership of more than 100 families, many of whom were the source of the donations from which Mr Oduntan benefited.

Midway through his trial, Mr Oduntan pleaded guilty to nine charges of furnishing false information to the Companies Registration Office, five counts of deception and 19 counts of theft. The jury in the case, before Judge Martina Baxter, on Wednesday returned guilty verdicts on all 54 outstanding charges.

After the verdicts were returned, Mr Oduntan was remanded in custody by Judge Baxter and was due to appear before the court again on April 10th

Nigerian pastor jailed in UK for stealing church funds

Five soldiers, many villagers killed in Katsina fresh attack

Terrorists have attacked a military camp in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State, killed five soldiers and injured 11 others on Sunday.

 Our correspondent gathered that the terrorists also killed some civilians yesterday at Yarmalamai village.

Premium Times quoted a military internal memo which stated that the incident occurred at about 2pm on Sunday.

The memo said over 200 terrorists armed with sophisticated weapons and led by a terrorism kingpin, Ado Aleiru, attacked the military camp situated at the village of Yar Malamai.

A member of a vigilante group, Aliyu Tukur, was also killed in the attack.

 The memo stated: “Terrorist attack on military camp causing grievous hurt and death of military personnel.

 “On receipt of the information, Supol Faskari, proceeded to the scene with his team and engaged the bandits on a gun battle as reinforcement (of) Air Components were also called upon and responded promptly.

“The battle lasted for over two hours after intervention from the Air Force; sadly five soldiers and one vigilante by name Aliyu Tukur, 30 years (old), of the same address, lost their lives.

“Eleven soldiers sustained different degrees of gunshot injuries, all the injured were rushed to hospital by the military, all the corpses were also removed.

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“The attack led to the withdrawal of all the remaining military personnel from the village to a nearby camp 25 kilometres away situated at Ali Kere village due to heavy casualty recorded.

“The bandits also suffered heavy casualties but have succeeded in removing them away from the scene (sic). Residents of the area are currently migrating

“Investigation has commenced further development would be communicated above for your information, please.”

A credible source in the state told Daily Trust yesterday that the incident was a clash between the soldiers and the terrorists near a military camp in Faskari Local Government Area.

He said the soldiers were escorting residents of Yarmalamai village, “who were unable to move without military escort due to security concerns.”

He said: “Suspecting each other as threats, both groups engaged in gunfire, resulting in casualties. Tragically, five soldiers lost their lives and others sustained injuries.

“The following day, the terrorists returned to Yarmalamai village, setting houses ablaze and causing casualties, though the exact number is yet to be confirmed,” the source said.

 The military high command in Abuja could not be reached for comments last night as calls to the mobile phone of the Director, Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba depicted “not reachable”.

Buba, a Major-General, was yet to respond to the WhatsApp message sent to him.

In the same vein, the spokesman of Nigerian Army, Onyema Nwachukwu, did not also reply a WhatsApp message sent to him.

Our correspondent reports that over the years, the affected areas have faced series of attacks by bandits, and farming and other economic activities have been affected.

However, of recent, combined security forces with support of aerial reconnaissance have killed many terrorists in different parts of Katsina, with locals hoping to access their farms this rainy season.

Besides Katsina, other states in the North West like Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto, and Kebbi are also facing security challenges.

Five soldiers, many villagers killed in Katsina fresh attack