A pastor in the Apapa parish of the Deeper Life Bible Church, Mr. Festus Agim, has been arraigned for allegedly duping one of his church members, Mr. Chibuike Ikegwuonu of N1m.
Agim was charged before Agbomalu Magistrate’s Court, Ajegunle, Lagos, with three counts of felony, stealing and duping Ikegwuonu of the money under the guise of investing it in Forex trade.
According to the police, on September 29, 2008, Agim (45), conspired with one other, now at large, to obtain the money under false pretences.
“That you, Festus Agim, on the said date at Olodi Apapa, obtained the sum of N1m from Ikegwuonu on the pretence that you will invest same in Forex trade, a representation you knew to be false,” the charge sheet stated in part.
The offences were said to be punishable under sections 449, 312 (a) and 285 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011.
Agim pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The accused was granted bail by Chief Magistrate E. Ogundare in the sum of N250,000 with two sureties in like sum.
Ogundare said the sureties must provide evidence of tax payment to the state government, affidavit of means and verifiable addresses.
The case was adjourned till April 27 for further hearing.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
This shouldn't be here as stated. The pastor pleaded Not guilty. This is likely a case of a deal gone bad. People tend to believe the worst of men of God. This doesn't. in any way mean that these people cannot defraud people in the name of religion. In this particular case, the processes of the law hasn't been concluded, and the headline is patently misleading. Editors, take note!
ReplyDeleteMost of us know what forex trade is all about. Many people are biting fingers due to bad deals on forex trade. Please Editor, monitor the case to the end you may discover at the end that the Pastor did not intend to dupe his christian brother.
ReplyDeleteExactly!! I think the media is just trying to get people to read. Inappropriate headline
ReplyDeleteYes lets try to make proper investigation n lets hold on to which dt is true. Though am not saying it can't be possible but let d hypothesis be tested and be found true.
ReplyDeletepoeple need to understand one thing, not all men who call their self man of God are truely who they say they are. its not all about tarnishing the pastors image in christendom
ReplyDeleteI quiet agree with what has been said. sometimes our news channels are just creating unnecessary distraction in order to seel their stories. I think forex isnt a wonder bank where u put in money and be very sure of getting return on investment. Maybe the investor tot it will be all good. well i am not exonerating the man of God but in most cases it turns out not to be as the editor has put it. We have to be very careful of the comments we make.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite interesting to see almost all contributors apply reason in commenting on this case. I wonder what the preponderance of opinions would have been if it was a Muslim cleric that was involved. Any answer?
ReplyDeleteMay the almighty Allah continue to guide and protect the last commentator....you made me to remember a Yoruba adage which implies " when a fox enter the village,kill and eat poor man's children.things seems to be okay but when the same fox start killing rich men children,there will be chaos and people consider that a wicked animal as enter the town. it's indeed laughable the way people are defending the pastor. The question is he a pastor or broker period?
ReplyDeleteA real Deeper Life Pastor can not and will not dupe another person. Forex trade deal might not always come out clean as you may expect. Untill the Pastor is found guilty, please Editor rewrite and tender your apology. Pastor, Dr.Abomaye-Nimenibo
ReplyDeleteThose who think that they are protecting their own by denying that this could not be the case are only showing blind faith and sentiment.Who said that a Deeper Life Pastor is above fraud in Nigeria where a persons holiness and sanctity in Church is determined by how rich and influencial one is.Those denying it are doing so because they are not the victim and I know that the victim has to be his church members since the church discriminates against non- members.They do not see anything good in others and often find it difficult to lend a helping hand to others outside their church members.The truth is that Only God knows those serving him in Spirit, Truth and Honesty.Names or appellation count for nothing before God.Whether Brother, Reverend, Pastor,Shepherd,Inner Life,Conquerer,Overcometh and so on-these are like the bread lebel that does not definitly determine the quality of the bread inside.It is only trust build overtime that makes people believe that a particular label they are buying contains the quality it claims to contain.This is the same with churches in Nigeria.May the almighty God save us.Suru lere!
ReplyDeletewhy do we turn every opportunity to comment on issues into a religious 'wordfare' .We are first Nigerians before being either a Christian or a Muslim.
ReplyDeleteAll what i know is that deeper life have only one pastor in lagos as whole which is GS, any other leader is cordinator, so be warned mr, editor. I know you did these to sale your paper.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is always bitter!
ReplyDeleteWhat else are you suppose to say? you are all blind folded to see any truth against christianity or your pastors but will totally believe, accept and even make worst (fabrication,curse) any blasphemy against islam & muslims.
have you not seen any pastor done even worst than that in the real life? now the editor is laying or trying to sell papers...
if you cant stand the truth you should all keep shut...
Allah (SW) is enough to defend islam & the muslims!
U all hav commended well, bt my question is ''why must a pastor even try forex trading, is an act of 419'' which is ver very wrong 4 his position
ReplyDeleteForex is not 419. That i know very well. If any religion is portrayed in bad light, check it's antecedents.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs I was going through the comments people already made in regards to this situation, I realized that indeed some of the comments are worth deliberating upon. The ones I am really particular about are the ones made by the Muslim brothers about the bias in people's thinking when it comes to people's reactions in a situation like this. They are right. As a member of this church myself, I would not want to believe that this pastor did this; because according to the teaching of the church one would not expect this type of behavior from a pastor. So, it is kind of difficult to accept that there are some crooks also amongst those that we trust to set the examples for others to follow. And I do believe if the said man was a Muslim there will be different reactions from those that so vehemently believe in his innocence.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I still believe we can not make an informed judgement or decision based on just this news item. We need to wait to see what comes out of this investigation. Like some have already said, this may just be an investment gone bad as we all know that the stock market is a volatile business. It could also be that the pastor actually duped the church member. So I would rather we wait and let the law take its due cause.
I just dey laf.All of una we they say my pastor or pastor no fit do this, no do dat.The bible says that money na the root of all evils.Whether FOREX or Forest the truth be say our pastors today too like money cos say our God no be poor God.Na God of Prosperity abi.Why we dey deceive ourself.Nigeria don turn to a country of religionomia.We dey so Godly and God is near but so far. Who talk say that even Boko Haram no dey defend their own. Lets call bad thing bad and stop these sentiment.Una hear,all of una we they thing in terms of religion or denomination.Man of God supposed immediate Christ.
ReplyDeleteWhatever is the case,the pastor na Oju Kokoro Shaa!
ReplyDelete