The Founder and General Overseer of Word Assembly Ministries, Rev. Isaac Omolehin, has revealed how an alleged threat by bandits forced him, his family and more than 100 residents of his church camp in Idofian, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, to flee the facility and go into hiding.
Omolehin said the police arrived at the camp around midnight between May 30 and 31 and ordered an immediate evacuation after receiving intelligence about a planned attack by kidnappers.
The cleric, who is known for his criticism of denominational divisions in the Nigerian Church, said the camp had remained deserted since the evacuation, leaving residents scattered in different locations.
He disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Saturday by his spokesperson, Grace Edema, and reported by Sunday PUNCH.
According to Omolehin, the bandits eventually arrived at the camp but found the facility empty.
“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.
He added, “They came, the bandits, but they didn’t meet anybody.”
Omolehin said the security threat had since forced him to move from one location to another with his wife and children, despite having a home and personal belongings at the camp.
“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 said.
The cleric said the camp was more than a place of worship, as it housed a primary school, secondary school, hospital, old people’s home and a rehabilitation centre for women rescued from the streets, including their children.
He said the alleged security threat had effectively paralysed the facility.
“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,” Omolehin said.
According to him, more than 100 residents remain displaced because the authorities have not declared the area safe for their return.
Omolehin said the church had written to the police seeking confirmation that the area was safe, particularly because schools had resumed and more than 100 children needed to return to classes.
“We wrote to the police because they were the ones who asked us to leave. We asked if it was safe for us to return because schools had resumed and we have over a hundred children that need to go to school. There has been no response,” he stated.
He said reports were also submitted to the Department of State Services and the Kwara State Ministry of Social Welfare, which supervises orphanages and rehabilitation centres, but claimed that no official response had been received.
Omolehin further alleged that his home community in Kogi State was attacked days after the Kwara incident.
“Three days after the attack on my camp here in Kwara, my village in Kogi State was also attacked, and my people were killed. When they missed me here in Kwara, they went to my village and attacked my people,” he alleged.
The cleric said the buildings at the camp were not destroyed during the alleged attack, but thieves subsequently broke into the deserted facility and removed some of the property.
“The kidnappers did not destroy our buildings; the structures in the camp are still intact. However, a few days after we evacuated, thieves began breaking into the camp and carting away our belongings,” he said.
He distinguished the alleged looters from the attackers who threatened the camp.
“Those were different criminals. The kidnappers did not come to steal refrigerators, fans or mattresses. They came for human beings. The people who looted our property are not the same as the kidnappers,” he added.
Omolehin also spoke about what he described as continued opposition to his ministry and public advocacy, saying the pressure had ranged from social media criticism to restrictions on where he could preach.
“The attacks are still going on, but they don’t affect me. Jesus already told us that our preaching may be resisted,” he said.
He further claimed that he had recently been barred from preaching in Baptist churches.
“Baptists banned me from preaching in Baptist churches just about a month ago,” he stated.
The cleric appealed to the Federal and Kwara State governments to strengthen security around the camp and facilitate the return of the displaced residents.
He particularly raised concerns about the welfare of the children living at the facility, saying some of them had been referred to the organisation by government authorities.
“I want to appeal to the government to improve security so that I can return to the camp with my family and all the people I look after. 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 said.
Efforts to obtain the reaction of the Kwara State Police Command were unsuccessful, as its spokesperson, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, reportedly did not respond to calls or messages as of the time of filing the report.
