The founder of Word Assembly Ministries, Ilorin, Rev Isaac Omolehin, says a threat by bandits to attack his church camp in Idofian, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, has forced him and his family into hiding.
Omolehin disclosed this in a statement issued on Saturday by his spokesperson, Grace Edema.
He said police officers arrived at the camp around midnight between May 30 and 31 and ordered everyone to leave after receiving a warning of an impending attack.
According to him, more than 100 residents fled the facility, which has remained deserted since then.
“The police came to my camp in the middle of the night and asked everybody to run because kidnappers were coming to attack me. The whole camp was deserted, and it has remained deserted,” he said.
Omolehin said the bandits later visited the camp but found nobody there.
“They came, the bandits, but they didn’t meet anybody,” he added.
He said he now moves from place to place with his wife and children.
“I have a house I can’t enter. I have a car I can’t ride. I have to hide myself from the public. If I sleep here today, I’ll sleep somewhere else tomorrow. I’m homeless with my wife and children,” Omolehin said.
The camp houses an orphanage, primary and secondary schools, a hospital, an old people’s home and a rehabilitation centre for mentally challenged women rescued from the streets and their children.
“Bandits chased us out of that place. The school cannot open, the hospital is not functioning, and the patients and nurses all ran for their lives,” he added.
Omolehin said more than 100 residents remain scattered because authorities have not declared the area safe.
“We wrote to the police because they were the ones who asked us to leave. We asked if it was safe for us to return because schools had resumed and we have over a hundred children that need to go to school. There has been no response,” the cleric stated.
He said reports were also sent to the Department of State Services and Kwara State Ministry of Social Welfare, but no official response had been received.
Omolehin further said his village in Kogi State was attacked three days after the Kwara incident, with some of his people killed.
“The kidnappers did not destroy our buildings; the structures in the camp are still intact. However, a few days after we evacuated, thieves began breaking into the camp and carting away our belongings.
“Those were different criminals. The kidnappers did not come to steal refrigerators, fans or mattresses. They came for human beings. The people who looted our property are not the same as the kidnappers.”
He also spoke about criticism of his ministry and said he was recently stopped from preaching in Baptist churches.
“The attacks are still going on, but they don’t affect me. Jesus already told us that our preaching may be resisted.”
“Baptists banned me from preaching in Baptist churches just about a month ago.”
Omolehin appealed to the Federal and Kwara State governments to improve security so residents can return.
“I want to appeal to the government to improve security so that I can return to the camp with my family and all the people I look after. Some of the children in the orphanage were brought to us by the government. Even if they say they don’t care about the rest of us, what about the children they entrusted to us?” he said.
Attempts to get the reaction of the state police command were unsuccessful. The Police Public Relations Officer, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, did not respond to calls or messages as of the time of filing this report.
Punch.
