A South African church led by self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri was raided by armed individuals who robbed congregants that had gathered for a vigil. According to BBC, the incident happened over the weekend at Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) in the country’s Mpumalanga province.

Congregants told police that they were inside the church waiting for other members when three armed individuals entered and robbed them of their phones, money and bank cards. The robbers also made away with a congregant’s car before later abandoning it.

Prior to fleeing the scene, police said the robbers ordered the congregants to provide the pin numbers of their bank cards. Authorities in the province said they have since launched an investigation into the robbery.

As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Shepherd Bushiri is a controversial self-proclaimed prophet known for his lavish lifestyle. In 2020, Bushiri returned to his native Malawi from South Africa after jumping bail on fraud charges. The controversial prophet claimed he returned to his home country for security reasons.

But that wasn’t the first time Bushiri had gotten in legal trouble in South Africa. In 2019, the prophet and his wife were arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering and the contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act for offenses they allegedly committed from 2015 to that time. In 2018, Bushiri reported himself to the police in Pretoria after a week of being wanted over a witchcraft prophecy he made in his church in 2016.

Authorities in Botswana also shut down his church in January 2018 for breaking the country’s laws with his “miracle money” mechanism. The “miracle money” is a term that refers to the unexplained appearance of money in bank accounts, handbags and pockets of people “blessed” by the “men of God”.

Bushiri lives a lavish lifestyle believed to be financed by his several churches spread across Africa. Besides the “miracle money”, Bushiri claims to have healing powers and can “walk on air.”