‘I’ll Pray For Your Kin, For a Fee. Or They’ll All Die.’

Nigerian clergyman David Sunday told a teenage girl that her family was in grave danger, and offered to pray for their wellbeing. Not for free, however.

He convinced the lady to first give him whatever money she had, “So she went to the bank and withdrew GH¢130 [about $65] for them,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Stephen Kofi Ahiataku.

After the prayers, the pastor ordered her to go home and bring some more money and all the jewelleries in the house since they had been contaminated by bad spirits “and that she was not to mention it to anybody or risk losing her life instantly”.

According to [Ahiataku], the lady obliged and returned with an amount of GH¢2,600 [$1,300] which belonged to her parents, and all the family jewellery including gold ornaments which she handed over to the pastor in a hotel.

The pastor asked the teenager to wait for him in the room whilst he went to a different room to pray over the items and the money.

He never returned, but police now have the man in custody.

Of note: The African news site that published this story is not an atheist operation. It publishes general news with a focus on Ghana and neighboring states. Nonetheless, the list of headlines of “related stories” at the bottom of the piece is worth taking in:

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Those servants of God are keeping busy!