Bishop Daniel Obinim, leader and founder of International God’s Way Church, yesterday wept bitterly while in the custody of the police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for allegedly defrauding a businessman.
He was detained at the Nima police station and passed the night at the facility.
Obinim is alleged to have defrauded the man to the tune of over GH¢11.6 million.
Police reports indicate that the embattled man of God, who is also being accused of flogging a pregnant girl and her boyfriend for fornication in his church, lured the complainant – identified as Bismark Kusi – to bring the money for blessing but he ended up pocketing it.
After the victim had purportedly told other senior members of the church to intervene for the money to be paid, Bishop Obinim allegedly sent him a text message warning him to stop spreading the matter.
The complainant then reported the matter to the police for investigations.
The arrest came barely 24 hours after the Tema police had declared the bishop wanted for flogging the two teenage lovers in his church.
Police reports indicate that he reported himself (to the police) at Tema but was later re-arrested and sent to the CID headquarters to assist in investigating the case of fraud leveled against him by the said Bismark Kusi.
Okomfo Angle
The complainant, in a statement to the police, stated that on November 28, 2015 he parted with an amount of GH¢780,000 to one Okomfo Dzakpata of Mampong Nkwanta near Koforidua, to help him (complainant) manage the proceeds from the sale of gold belonging to the family.
In his desperation to recover the money from the said Okomfo Dzakpata, the complainant said he visited Bishop Daniel Obinim, also a charismatic preacher, for assistance.
Bishop Obinim, after being briefed about the issue, allegedly directed the complainant to bring the remaining money for blessing.
The complainant allegedly took the money to the bishop for blessing as he was directed, but after the prayers, he was instructed by Obinim to leave it with him for a period of two weeks.
When the two-week period elapsed and the complainant went back to for the money, Bishop Obinim purportedly fabricated stories.
“On July 31, 2016 Bishop Obinim sent me a text message which read, ‘Bismark, my senior brother told me you said the money you brought to me is GH¢12 billion.
Bishop Obinim being sent to the police vehicle
‘I have told you I will give the money to you by the end of this month. I have also heard that you have told some big men in this country about the money. Please stop that because I don’t like that, bye bye,” Mr Bismark Kusi averred.
The complainant said all efforts to collect the money from the bishop proved futile.
When Chief Superintendent Felix Mawusi, the director of operations at the CID headquarters in Accra was contacted, he confirmed that the police, based on the case reported by Mr Kusi, had invited the bishop to assist them in investigations.
He said the police would prosecute the suspect after investigations.
At the time of filing this report, Bishop Obinim was being interrogated by a team of investigators from the Documentation and Visa Fraud Unit.
Bishop Daniel Obinim was declared wanted by the Tema police. He was seen in a video flogging the pregnant girl and her boyfriend.
The bishop, who is said to be the foster parent of the boy in the video footage, was infuriated by the lustful action of the teenagers which resulted in a pregnancy.
He flogged the shirtless young man on his back with his belt before turning to the girl, flogging her mercilessly in the full glare of his congregation.
During the beating, Obinim was also heard questioning the jobless young man (believed to be a student) why he impregnated the girl when he had no means of livelihood for her upkeep and the upbringing of the unborn child.
The girl, unable to stand the flogging, attempted to escape, but she was held by a right-hand man of the bishop identified as Pastor Blow to enable the bishop subject her to more beatings.
Obinim, who was not satisfied, instructed his junior pastors to remove their belts and subject the couple to severe beatings, according to the video footage.
Arrest In Tema
The cleric Tuesday morning turned himself in to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Tema Regional Police Command together with some pastors and a lawyer.
He was sent to the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Paul Manly Awini for a short meeting before meeting investigators at DOVVSU where his caution statement was obtained.
The Tema police transferred the founder of the church to the police headquarters when members of his church started massing up at the regional command amidst chanting of war songs.
Obinim, who was preliminarily charged with physical abuse, was transferred to the Police Headquarters in Accra over the fraud case.
Bishop Obinim was whisked away together with the Resident Pastor of the Tema branch, Apostle Abraham Solomon alias One Blow, who had been charged with abetment of crime (to wit, physically abusing church members).
The resident pastor of the Ashaley Botwe branch of the church, Pastor Kingsley Baah, who is yet to report himself to the police, is also under investigation in respect of the same offence.
Interestingly, Bishop Obinim, who was handcuffed behind him, started screaming in the local language to the hearing of the crowd that ‘Jesus is victorious’ as the members of the church responded loudly, ‘Amen!’
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Juliana Obeng, the spokeswoman of the Tema Region, told the media that Bishop Obinim reported himself upon the invitation sent to him.
According to her, the preacher was yet to be charged but his caution statement had been obtained by the police.
She said he was under investigation for physical abuse.
Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, had earlier lodged a formal complaint with the Tema DOVVSU against Bishop Obinim after a concerned citizen had reported him at the same police station.
Later, Lawyer Francis Xavier Sosu, a private legal practitioner, also sued the bishop for flogging the two at the Accra High Court (Human rights division).
He has sued the general overseer for breach of fundamental human rights of members of the church.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey & Vincent Kubi, Tema
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)