- Pastor Lands in Police Custody After Viral Video Shows Him Flogging Unclad Children
- The narrator claimed the incident happened in a church in Eneka, Port Harcourt
- The footage also showed a man tossing the children
The Rivers State Police Command has arrested 41-year-old pastor, Ifediorah Onyeibor Joseph, over alleged abuse of children in his church.
In a video of less than two minutes circulating online, at least 20 children were seen kneeling and holding palm leaves while a man repeatedly flogged them with fronds. Most of the minors were in unclad.
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The narrator claimed the incident happened in a church in Eneka, Port Harcourt, and alleged that the children had been subjected to days of beatings and maltreatment, leaving marks on their bodies.
“Only God knows if they kidnapped these children. There is blood in that basin. They flog these children, strip them naked… both boys and girls, and this is Day 3. The other day, we couldn’t sleep at night,” the voice said.
“The children are crying. They are beating them as you can see, and this has been going on for days now.”
The footage also showed a man tossing the children, one after the other, to a man and a woman dressed in white after whipping them.
SPIRITUAL CLEANSING
In a statement on Wednesday, Rivers police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko said preliminary investigations revealed that the pastor organised a three-day programme he called “spiritual cleaning” for the children, claiming to have been inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Police operatives arrested the pastor and several church members at the scene following an intelligence-led operation. The command said a thorough investigation is ongoing to determine the full circumstances of the incident.
Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga A. Adepoju, urged the public to remain calm and to report any suspicious activity to the nearest police station or other security agencies.
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