The Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide has dissociated itself from Afolabi Hodonu, a self-acclaimed cleric arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency over alleged drug trafficking in Lagos.
Hodonu and his wife were apprehended on Thursday at the Gbaji checkpoint along the Seme corridor, where officials reportedly uncovered 11 kilogrammes of skunk concealed in compartments of their vehicle.
The suspect had claimed to be the shepherd in charge of a parish identified as Celestial Church of Christ, Agonvi Sea Beach, located in the Sakpo area of the Seme border in Badagry.
However, distancing the church from the controversy on Sunday, its Head of Media and Publicity, Kayode Ajala, said internal records showed that Hodonu and his wife were not members of the recognised Ketu mainstream under the leadership of Reverend Emmanuel Oshoffa.
Ajala stressed that the church would not be associated with individuals engaging in criminal activities, describing the allegation as a “despicable act” that had unjustly dragged its name into disrepute.
“Our administrative records confirm that the said Shepherd, Afolabi Hodonu, and his wife do not belong to the Ketu mainstream of the Celestial Church of Christ under the leadership of His Eminence, Reverend Emmanuel Mobiyina Oshoffa,” he said.
He added that a task force would be deployed to the Seme axis of Badagry to verify the status of the parish and unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA, through its spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the arrest of the couple followed earlier intelligence linked to a separate drug interception at the same checkpoint.
According to him, operatives had on March 30 apprehended a 35-year-old man, Sunday Samuel, who allegedly posed as a security agent while transporting 24.5 kilogrammes of skunk from the Seme border into Lagos.
Babafemi noted that investigations into that seizure led to the arrest of Hodonu and his wife, describing the operation as part of a broader crackdown on drug trafficking activities across the country within the past week.