The Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide has rejected any association with a man identified as Afolabi Hodonu, who was recently apprehended by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency over alleged drug possession.
Hodonu and his wife were reportedly arrested on Thursday at the Gbaji checkpoint in Lagos, where anti-narcotics officers said they uncovered about 11 kilogrammes of skunk concealed in their vehicle.
The suspect had presented himself as the shepherd in charge of a parish located around the Seme border axis in Badagry.
Details of the operation were made public in a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, who explained that the arrest followed earlier intelligence from a separate seizure at the same checkpoint.
According to him, operatives had previously intercepted a 35-year-old suspect, Sunday Samuel, on March 30, allegedly transporting 24.5 kilogrammes of skunk from the Seme border into Lagos.
Investigations stemming from that arrest led to the eventual capture of Hodonu and his wife.
“The arrest of the couple followed the apprehension of a fake security agent, Sunday Samuel, 35, at the same checkpoint on Monday, March 30, while conveying 24.5kg of skunk from Seme border to Lagos,” Babafemi stated, noting that the operation was part of broader enforcement activities carried out nationwide within the past week.
Responding to the development, the church’s Head of Media and Publicity, Kayode Ajala, said internal records do not recognise Hodonu or his wife as members of the church’s recognised structure under its Ketu leadership.
“Our administrative records confirm that the said Shepherd, Afolabi Hodonu and his wife, Success Hodonu, do not belong to the Ketu mainstream of Celestial Church of Christ under the leadership of His Eminence, Reverend Emmanuel Mobiyina Oshoffa,” he said.
Ajala also expressed displeasure over the linkage of the church’s name to the incident, describing it as unfortunate and damaging.
He added that the church would send a fact-finding team to the Badagry area to verify the circumstances surrounding the case and establish clarity on the suspect’s claims of affiliation.
“Given that the name of the Celestial Church of Christ has been dragged into this despicable act, we shall dispatch our Task Force Corps to Seme, Badagry, for a fact-finding mission of the unfolding situation,” he added.
