Pastor Arrested For Duping Church Member In Akwa Ibom

Cooling his heels in detention is Victor Udom, a pastor based in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, after he was arrested for allegedly defrauding a member of his church, Eyo Akpan, of the sum of N500,000, with the promise to secure a job for his victim's daughter.

Udom, 40,  who claimed to be a prophet of Eternity Mission Church, was said to have collected an initial sum of N270,000 from Akpan to secure a job with the Nigerian Immigration Service, for his daughter, Magdalene Akpan.

The state Controller of the service Abdullahi Garba, while parading the pastor, said Magdalene brought an appointment letter which Udom had prepared for her to start work in the command.

He stated that Udom stole the appointment letter of a former immigration officer who had died and altered some information to reflect the currency of the situation, including altering the man’s name to that of Magdalene.

He said:

"Udom promised to give employment to Magdalene. He gave a fake employment letter with a forged signature of one Sylvester Johnson, as an offer of immigration job to Magdalene.

Our officers were able to track him down and he is with us. We intend to send him to Abuja for further investigation.

It may also interest you to know that Udom had collected N270,000 from Magdalene’s father for immigration and N230,000 for a job in ExxonMobil from the same man. He is a serial fraudster. He has confessed to us."

But Prophet Udom in his confession, said somebody in the Immigration Service collected the money with a promise to get a job for the lady.

"When the family started disturbing me and the person that collected the money refused to pick my calls, I prepared the employment letter for Magdalene.

One of my church members gave me that letter for me to pray for him; the person is dead, he was working in NIS."