The Rivers State Police Command has arrested a Port Harcourt-based pastor and four church members after a disturbing video surfaced online showing a group of unclad minors being whipped in what appeared to be a religious ritual.
The suspect, identified as Pastor Ifediorah Joseph, of Our Lord Victory Covenant Mission Church, Eneka, allegedly organised a three-day program for children, claiming it was a “spiritual cleansing” inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The amateur footage, which has spread rapidly across social media, shows the 41-year-old pastor striking the children while other church members look on.
The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, CP Olugbenga Adepoju, ordered an immediate investigation after the video was brought to the attention of authorities.
Police operatives, acting on intelligence, stormed the church premises and arrested the pastor alongside four members believed to be involved in the incident.
In a surprising turn of events, several parents of the affected children stormed the Eneka Police Division, singing and dancing in support of the pastor.
They insisted that they had willingly consented to the ritual and claimed there was no abuse involved.
One of the parents, Mrs Ngozi Uzoma, told journalists that the children were undergoing a harmless spiritual exercise.
Speaking to the press, Pastor Ifediorah insisted that the ritual was carried out with the parents’ full consent and was purely for the children’s spiritual purification.
“I acted under the direction of the Holy Spirit,” he said when asked whether using a pigeon’s blood to bathe the children was healthy for them.
Credit: Channelstv.com
