The Kogi state government has ordered the immediate closure of a prayer house allegedly operated by unlicensed medical practitioners.
According to a statement by Onogwu Muhammed, chief press secretary to the governor, the prayer house, named ‘The New Jerusalem’, was sealed off on Monday over “alleged unwholesome practices”.
Muhammed said the pastor in charge of the facility is currently under investigation, while some persons, “mainly young women who claimed they came for prayer and had been spent months at the place, including others mentally unstable placed under chains”, were found at the center.
“Pastor of the church, Adeiza Peter, is being investigated by the Police for some criminal activities ranging from fraud, use of his prayer house for medical quackery by taking deliveries and also running psychiatric services, even when it has been discovered he has no medical training,” the statement reads.
“The state government delegation comprising the commissioner for information and communication, Hon. Kingsley Fanwo; his counterpart in health, Dr. Zakari Usman; the State Security Adviser and Navy Commander, Jerry Omodara (rtd), supervised the enforcement of Governor Yahaya Bello’s directive.
“It was gathered that a number of deaths have been recorded at the prayer house, including pregnant women and others suffering from various ailments, after charging their relatives huge sum of money.
“His supposed assistant, Eneji Seidu, from Adogo, Ajaokuta Local Government Area of Kogi State, said the Pastor, who was a musical artist before he received a call to be a Pastor, has been his close friend, noting that he is a true man of God who has been called to help those in need.
“He admitted that people receive medical attention at the church, but denied knowledge of deaths of sick people at the prayer house, saying God had used the Pastor to heal many who come with challenges.”
Muhammed added that Fanwo said those found at the prayer house would be reunited with their families, just as he urged residents to desist from patronizing quacks.
According to the statement, the health commissioner said the pastor has no medical training, but was involved in “taking deliveries and transfusing blood, as well as keeping people with mental illness, and extorting money from them under the guise of spiritual materials”.
