The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has called for thorough investigation and prosecution of the pastors involved in the alleged abduction of about 77 people, comprising 54 adults and 23 children in Ondo State.

The victims were kept in an underground cell of a popular church, the Whole Bible Believers Church in Valentino area of Ondo City in Ondo West Local Council.

CAN noted that though, the pastors in question and the church, the Whole Bible Believers Church are not members of the association at all levels, the fact that the church claims to be a Christian church necessitates that the body states its position on the matter.

In a statement signed by the Special Assistant (Media &Communications) to the CAN President, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, the association urged all denominations to keep an eye on pastors under them towards ensuring wholesome biblical conduct and also implored church members all over the country to cross-check every teaching from the bible before believing it.

The Association commended the police for their prompt action, which led to the rescue of over 70 victims from the church premises.

It also stressed the need to subject the victims to medical check ups, since nobody knows what they went through where they were camped.

“ CAN frowns on the act of the pastors arrested in Ondo, who reportedly camped their church members in the church premises, misleading them into believing that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, popularly referred to as the Rapture is now.

“One Josiah Peter Asumosa, an assistant pastor in a church located in Ondo West Local government area of Ondo State, was lying to the uninformed members that Rapture would take place in April, but later said it had been shifted to September 2022. He told the young members to obey only their parents in the Lord.

“We are therefore calling on the police to thoroughly investigate him and his activities with a view to prosecuting him and his cohorts, if there had been any infringement on the law of Nigeria and the rights of the members in his custody.

“No true pastor would claim to know the date of the rapture, because the Bible has stated it clearly that it is only God, who knows the date.

“Whoever claims to know the date is not only misleading the public, but cannot claim to be a genuine servant of God. He is at best, an agent of satan pretending to be a pastor,” the statement added.