The Bishop of Lagos West, Anglican Diocese, Revd James Odedeji on Friday refuted claims by the notorious kidnapper, Chikwudidume Onuadike alias Evans of being a member and a philanthropist of high repute in the Anglican family.
Odedeji made the clarification in a reaction to an exclusive story published by TheNewsGuru.com on the dreaded kidnapper, Evans, who claimed to be a member of Anglican, Ketu-Ikosi area of Lagos, where he alleged that he sponsored indigent students, gave money to widows as well as donated immensely to the renovation of his church building. [READ THE FULL STORY HERE]
Speaking through one Ven. Paul Adeyemi who contacted TheNewsGuru.com via the telephone, Odedeji said: “We have verified it, and we are very certain that Evans is not a member of any elements of our church. We don’t know him and we have no affiliation with his person”
“All that he his saying about paying school fees for indigent students, helping widows, and donating hugely to renovations of our church are pure lies.Please ignore the false information, it is only meant to mislead the public,” he said.
When asked if Evans had probably been one of the anonymous philanthropists in the church, Odedeji replied ‘We know all our members, he is not one of us and he has never been part of us”
He added that Evans may be putting up such lies in order to whip up undue sentiments to attract public sympathy.
Also recall that Evan’s wife, Precious made similar claims during an interview session with a national newspaper [Not TheNewsGuru].
In the interview, which had earlier been cited on TheNewsGuru.com, Precious reportedly said: “He reads psalm 23 a lot. Even his phone, he sets alarm for 12 noon to read psalm 23. He took part in our daily prayers in the morning, evening and night. He used to lead us in prayers. We attend Anglican Church. He has never given them money to show off,” she said.
“We used to give N5000 or N10,000 and the highest we have given so far was N50,000 when we baptised one of our children. I am appealing to the powers that be to spare his life (crying), as I speak now, I am kneeling down with my children, crying and begging for forgiveness. Have mercy on us.