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From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
A self-acclaimed prophet, Godwin Sunday Ajuluchukwucheya, also known as Prophet Sunday Koboko, has been convicted and sentenced by the Enugu State High Court for defrauding members of his church of more than N136.4 million through false promises of miracles, spiritual interventions, and a fake investment scheme.
The conviction was secured by the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice H. O. Eya of the Enugu State High Court, sitting at Independence Layout, Enugu.
Ajuluchukwucheya was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence and stealing involving N136,436,000.
One of the charges stated that the convict, between 2023 and February 2025, fraudulently obtained N136.4 million from unsuspecting members of his church after falsely claiming that he had won N30 billion in Baba Ijebu lottery and promising investors in his scheme returns based on the amount they invested.
The charge read in part: “Godwin Sunday Ajuluchukwucheya… with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N136,436,000 from unsuspecting members of your church under the false pretence that you have won N30,000,000,000 in Baba Ijebu lotto game and that investors in your investment scheme will receive dividends according to their investments, which pretence you knew to be false.”
The offence is contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
The defendant pleaded guilty when the charges were read to him. Following the guilty plea, counsel to the EFCC, Assistant Commander of the EFCC (ACE II), Rotimi Ajobiewe, urged the court to convict and sentence him accordingly.
Justice Eya subsequently sentenced the convict to one year imprisonment with an option of a N500,000 fine.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of his landed property to the Federal Government through the EFCC.
The court said, “the convict’s landed property covered by Customary Certificate of Occupancy, dated 25th July 1989, registered as No. 92, at page 92 in Volume 512 of the Land Registry, Enugu, shall be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and shall be sold, and the proceeds used as restitution of the victims of the offence.”
The EFCC said its investigation began after receiving a petition from Mrs. Ngene Nkiruka Jane, who alleged that the convict exploited her grief by claiming he possessed the power to raise her late husband from the dead.
She further alleged that he persuaded her to invest in a scheme with promises of financial returns, leading her to part with N6.7 million for both the purported resurrection and the investment.
Another petitioner, Okey Uwakwe, alleged that Ajuluchukwucheya convinced him that he could spiritually compel his brother, who had lived abroad since 1997, to return to Nigeria.
Believing the claim, Uwakwe reportedly paid N6,231,400 for what the convict described as “spiritual work.”
The anti-graft agency disclosed that as investigations progressed, more members of the convict’s ministry came forward with similar allegations of fraud.
Investigators also uncovered what they described as the convict’s pattern of deceiving followers by persuading them to purchase so-called spiritual items purportedly capable of bringing prosperity and solving personal problems.
Among the products allegedly sold to victims were “miracle sticker,” “spiritual dragon,” “holyghost thunder,” and other similar items.
The EFCC said proceeds from the sale of the forfeited property would be used to provide restitution to victims of the fraud.
