Rev. Isaac Omolehin, the founder of Word Assembly Ministries, Ilorin, has raised alarm that bandits threatened to attack his church camp at Idofian village, in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.
According to his spokesperson, Grace Edema, the threat has forced the pastor, his wife, children and over 100 residents of the camp to flee for their lives.
Speaking in a statement over the weekend, Rev Omolehin said the incident happened between May 30 and 31. He said police officers stormed his camp at midnight and ordered everyone to evacuate immediately because kidnappers were planning to attack the facility.
“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.
The pastor revealed that he was not at the camp when the evacuation happened. He said the kidnappers later came but met an empty camp.
Since that night, he said he has been moving from one place to another with his family for safety.
“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,” he lamented.
Rev Omolehin explained that the camp is not just a church. It houses orphaned children, a primary school, a secondary school, 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 said.
He said they wrote to the police to ask if it was safe to return because schools have resumed and over 100 children need to go to school, but there has been no response.
He also said reports were sent to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Kwara State Ministry of Social Welfare, but nothing has been done.
The cleric added that three days after the threat on his camp in Kwara, his village in Kogi State was attacked and some of his people were killed.
“When they missed me here in Kwara, they went to my village and attacked my people.”
He clarified that the kidnappers did not destroy the buildings. He said the structures are still intact, but thieves have started breaking in to steal their belongings since they left.
“The kidnappers did not come to steal refrigerators or mattresses. They came for human beings. The people looting our property are different criminals.”
Despite the attacks and criticism he has faced for speaking against denominational divisions in the church, Rev Omolehin said he will continue his ministry.
He also revealed that about a month ago, he was banned from preaching in Baptist churches.
He is now appealing to the Federal Government and Kwara State Government to improve security around the camp so that the displaced residents, especially the orphaned children, can return.
“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 asked.