Police Release Prophet Accused of Kidnapping Minor

Chiemelie Ezeobi
For lack of substantive evidence, the Lagos State Police Command yesterday granted bail and released  one Ernest Chukwuemeka, a prophet arrested in Ikorodu for allegedly kidnapping a minor.

The police had on June 30 arrested Chukwuemeka, the leader of Holy Family and Happy Family Ministry, an inter-denominational prayer ministry, over the alleged kidnap of a boy for ritual purposes.
The prophet had been indicted for having requested for the boy for ritual purposes, after a woman was arrested by the Ikorodu community when they found out she had bundled the victim in a bag.
But the prophet through the spokesman of the ministry, Evangelist Patrick Adebayo, debunked all allegations made against him by the said woman.
He said the woman found with the boy was neither a member or a worker of the praying ministry, adding that the building where some people were found in chains was only used to pray for lunatics and not for ritual purposes as it was alleged.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the prophet's release, however, said they were far from closing the case, rather they were still investigating.
She said: "The prophet is on bail. We can’t just detain someone because of allegations that cannot be substantiated. From preliminary investigations, we have not found any evidence to detain him.
"We have also sent the woman who made the allegation to the psychiatric hospital to ascertain her sanity and we are waiting for the result. The children found with the woman on the day of incident are nowhere to be found.
"As at now, we have nothing against the prophet, but as investigation continues and we find him culpable, we will arrest him for prosecution."