At least 77 people have been freed by Police in Nigeria in a church after they were discovered to have been camped there, awaiting the second coming of Jesus Christ .
Those rescued including children were confined in a church in the south-western state of Ondo. The police rescued 26 children, eight teenagers and 43 adults.
According to local media reporting some of them were camped there for months awaiting Christ’s return.
A police spokesperson said many of them were told to expect the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in April this year.
The children had abandoned school to witness the event – foretold in the Bible. The Second Coming is a Christian belief in the return of Jesus Christ after his Biblical ascension to Heaven.
Rapture is the idea that Christian believers will be taken to Heaven at the Second Coming.
The raid on the Whole Bible Believers Church in the Valentino area of Ondo Town only happened because a mother complained about her missing children.
She however expressed thoughts that her children might be in the church, which led to investigations by the police into suspected mass abduction.
The pastor of the Pentecostal church, David Anifowoshe, and his deputy have all been arrested. Those rescued have been taken into the care of the local authorities.
Police press officer Funmilayo Odunlami told the media that “Preliminary investigation revealed that one Pastor Josiah Peter Asumosa, an assistant pastor in the church, was the one who told the members that Rapture will take place in April, but later said it has been changed to September 2022 and told the young members to obey only their parents in the Lord.”
