Celestial Church Denies Link To Pastor And Wife Arrested With Drugs At Seme Border, Badagry

<h4>Celestial Church Denies Link To Pastor And Wife Arrested With Drugs At Seme Border&comma; Badagry<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that the Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide has officially clarified that a couple recently arrested with illegal drugs at the Seme border in Badagry&comma; Lagos State&comma; are not affiliated with its recognized leadership&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Pastor Afolabi Hodonu and his wife&comma; Success Hodonu&comma; were apprehended by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency &lpar;NDLEA&rpar; at the Gbaji checkpoint while allegedly transporting 11 kilograms of skunk hidden in their vehicle&period; Hodonu had claimed to be the Shepherd in charge of the Agonvi Sea Beach parish in the Sakpo area along the Seme border&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi explained that the arrest was part of a larger crackdown on drug trafficking&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The apprehension of a fake security agent&comma; Sunday Samuel&comma; 35&comma; at the same checkpoint on Monday&comma; 30th March&comma; while conveying 24&period;5kg skunk from Seme border to Lagos&comma;” he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The development was part of a series of operations conducted by the anti-narcotics agency across the country within the past week&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In response to public attention and the misuse of the church’s name&comma; Kayode Ajala&comma; Head of Media and Publicity for the Celestial Church&comma; expressed concern over the situation&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The administrative records confirm that the said Shepherd&comma; Afolabi Hodonu and his wife&comma; Success Hodonu&comma; do not belong to the Ketu mainstream of Celestial Church of Christ under the leadership of His Eminence&comma; Reverend Emmanuel Mobiyina Oshoffa&comma;” he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ajala further described the incident as a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;despicable act” and hinted at the church’s apology&comma; noting the need to protect its reputation&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Having said that and given the fact that the name of the Celestial Church of Christ has been dragged into this despicable act&comma; we shall dispatch our Task Force Corps to Seme&comma; Badagry&comma; for a fact-finding mission of the unfolding situation&comma;” he added&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The church’s swift response reflects its effort to distance itself from the controversy while NDLEA continues its investigations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;