The over 50 children rescued from the basement of an Ondo church have been locked there for over six months, it was revealed.
This was disclosed by an NGO, Ekimogun Youths Connect, on Saturday.
The victims, who were said to be 50, were alleged to have been kept in the church’s confinement and they, as well as the pastors and some members of the church, were taken to the state police headquarters for interrogation on Saturday.
The NGO, in a statement issued by its president, Mr Famakinwa Lucaskakaki, said it swung into action together with the police and the Amotekun officers to rescue the victims.
The statement read in part, “About 14:00hrs of yesterday, Friday 1st of July, 2022, I was reliably informed that a particular Church in Valentino, Ondo City, called ‘Ondo Church’ , locked people up in the church for over six months, telling them that Jesus Christ will come and meet them by September this year.
“The National President of the Great Constitutional Rights and Justice Forum, in person of Comrade Omotayo Omolayo, was also briefed and we mobilised down to the venue and we met about 50 people locked up in the church.
“The church has rooms where the pastor locked his members. The process of rescuing these ones with the help of Police officers, Amotekun, Atariajanaku and vigilante group, caused a lot of pandemonium that the people under lock started beating us.
“The pastor, the church workers and the people under lock have been arrested and whisked to Akure.”
