Monday, March 3, 2025 - Superintendent Evangelist Whepetoji Babaniyeh, a Lagos-based pastor of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a 28-year-old man.
Sahara Reporters reports that the cleric
leads the Celestial Church of Christ, Ileri Oluwa Parish, Lagos State
University (LASU) 2.
Ogunbode Quadri Adedamola was declared
missing on January 16, 2025.
He had obtained his degree from the
Political Science Education Department of LASU in 2024 and was running his
private business, Horlar Edu Consultancy, on the LASU campus before his
disappearance.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, a family
source noted that Quadri was last seen near the church.
“He was last seen around the church
premises, and since then, we have yet to hear from him. The police have
arrested the pastor over the incident and have stated that investigations are
ongoing,” the source said.
The source also revealed that Quadri was on
a phone call with his girlfriend at the time of the incident.
“His girlfriend was speaking to him on the
phone when it happened. He told her he was near the church when someone from
inside called him. That was the last time anyone heard from him,” the
family member said.
But the pastor has yet to confess to the
killing or disclose the victim’s whereabouts, according to the family source.
“The last we know is that the pastor has
yet to confess or reveal where Quadri is,” the family source told
Sahara Reporters.
However, a YouTuber known as Authentic
Auntie Adunni – Triple A – claimed in a post that when police visited the
church based on the girlfriend's account, the cleric denied seeing Quadri that
day or knowing his whereabouts.
She stated that as the investigation
intensified, police obtained the victim's bank statement and discovered that
N1.5 million had been transferred from Quadri’s account to Babaniyeh’s account
on the day he went missing.
“When this prophet was asked, it was
alleged that this prophet said that it was thanksgiving money that Quadri gave
to him,” she said
She added that further investigations
uncovered additional transfers from Quadri’s account to the pastor’s child.
“Upon further investigation, it was discovered that these people
unalived (killed) Quadri, cut some parts of his body and buried the remaining
inside the church compound. The police went into action and in the process,
more was discovered,” she said.
“The shepherd’s son was involved in this issue.”
However, the family source refuted the YouTuber’s claim that Quadri had
been confirmed dead or that his remains were discovered within the church
premises.
“We cannot confirm whether he is dead or alive. All we know is that he
is missing. That is what we know, we have also not seen any corpse that is
his,” the family source said.
When contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer,
Benjamin Hundeyin, denied having any knowledge of the incident.
“We have no such report,” he said in a text message acceding to
Sahara Reporters.
0 Comments