Two Nigerian nationals, who claim to be pastors from the Nigeria based Prophet T.B. Joshua’s Church, have been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Police Service after they attempted to defraud a young man on the deceit of having solutions to his spiritual problems.
The two suspects, Emmanuel John Bassey, a mobile phone repairer and David Brown a trader are said to be residents of Tudu, a suburb of Accra, and were trying to defraud the young student just in front of the Ghana Police Headquarters building in Accra.
They were arrested when they tried to lure Amenyuse Etornam, a student of Adonten Senior High School to part with a tin of milk and some money which was supposed to be used for the restoration of the blood of the young man, which they had earlier claimed had been sucked the previous night.
The student, who sensed that the two men were trying to defraud him, reported the case to the police and the two men were arrested immediately.
Commissioner of Police (COP), Prosper Agblor, giving the facts of the matter noted that on April 11, 2013, the two suspects “in their usual rounds met the complainant who was returning from holiday classes in front of the Police Headquarters building.”
According to the Director General of the CID, one of the suspects, Emmanuel Bassey, was the first to confront the student and introduced himself as a pastor from Prophet J.B Joshua’s Church in Nigeria.
Prophet T.B. Joshua is a Nigeria pastor and Founder of Synagogue Church of all Nations in Nigeria, with a branch in Ghana and also a household name in the country.
COP Ablor stated that the suspect said he had seen in the spiritual realm that the blood of the student had been sucked the previous night by an aunt and that through prayers, the blood could be restored.
Whilst talking with the student, the second suspect, David Brown, who pretended to be a passer-by, walked pass them and started calling his colleague by the name Prophet Nana.
The CID Director General said the second Suspect told the student to listen to whatever instructions the alleged Pastor would give.
Meanwhile, the suspected fake pastor informed the complainant that he could pray for his blood to be restored but midway through the prayers he stopped and demanded a tin of Ideal Milk from the complainant.
The student, who was not too far from the national Police Headquarters, became suspicious and instead of providing the Ideal Milk, managed to convince the two suspects to come along with him into the CID headquarters where they were arrested.
A search conducted on the suspects by police personnel after the arrest, led to the retrieval of a tin of Ideal Milk and two fresh eggs from the purse of the first suspect, Emmanuel Bassey.
When questioned, Emmanuel Bassey stated that the content of the milk had been diluted with red paint after piercing the side of the tin and sealing the hole created with some substance which was not immediately disclosed to the police after which it was concealed with the cover of the branded Ideal Milk.
The suspect further stated that he used the diluted milk as a bait to defraud his victims by using it to replace the new milk people who fall victim to his deception buy for him to pray over.
The CID Director General continued that the suspected fake pastor explained that after getting his victims to buy the milk he quickly swaped it with his diluted milk and then poured out the content of the latter and when the red substance comes out he tells the victim it is the sucked blood.
When this is done, the suspect is then able to get his victim to part with any amount of money he demands.
The suspect also told the police he was able to successfully defraud two people at Abeka, a suburb of Accra last year.