The police in Ondo, on Sunday, said 77 Christian worshippers who were confined in the basement of a church in preparation for rapture were rescued on Saturday.

The worshippers, which included underage children were removed from the building belonging to The Whole Bible Believers Church in the Valentino area of Ondo town after a tip off by a whistleblower.

In a statement posted via its Twitter page on Sunday, the police said 26 children and 8 teenagers were among those rescued from the church. 

“In all, Seventy-seven (77) members – Twenty Six (26) children, Eight (8) teenagers, and Forty Three (43) adult members were rescued from the Church”, Funmilayo Odunlami, spokesperson for the Ondo police command said in the tweet.

Ms Odunlami explained that the police discovered that the worshippers, particularly the children, were being harboured at the church with false teachings about “rapture”, a doctrine that teaches Christian believers about the second coming of Christ. 

She noted that the police from the Fagun Divisional Station in Ondo town, upon the tip-off swung into action to rescue the victims from the church. 

According to her, “Policemen were sent to the Church to invite the Pastor and the members of the Church on sighting the Police attacked them.

“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.

“Another family who was also around during the rescue said their daughter a part 3 student, dropped out of school due to the strange teachings of the Pastor and left home in January, 2022 to start living in the Church.

She, however, added that the two pastors are currently in the custody of the police and still assisting the police in their investigation. 

The action of the pastor has continued to elicit angry reactions from Nigerians, especially Christian believers who consider the church’s teachings an heresy.