Daniel Obinim
Daniel Obinim, founder of International God’s Way Church (IGWC), was yesterday absent from court when his case was called at the Kaneshie District Magistrate Court in Accra.
Louis Yiadom Baokye, who held brief for Dela Blagogee, counsel for Obinim who refers to himself as an Angel of God, told the court that his client was indisposed.
The controversial pastor is before the court together with others over allegations of forgery of police document and publication of false news.
According to him, Obinim was due to return from Kumasi to Accra but his health failed him and they (lawyers) subsequently advised him to seek medical attention.
He told the court that the defense communicated the development to the prosecution, adding that Obinim would be available at the next court sitting if his health permitted him to.
The prosecution, led by Detective Sergeant Amoah Richard, indicated that Obinim had been consistent in coming to court ever since he was granted bail so they were minded to grant the request.
The court presided over by Rosemond Agyiri therefore adjourned the matter to December 17, 2020.
Trial
Bishop Obinim and Kwabena Okyere were separately put before a Kaneshie Magistrate Court in Accra and both charged with publication of false news and forgery of document contrary to Section 159 (c) of 29, 1960.
The two, together with three others at large, are facing four counts of conspiracy to publish false news, conspiracy to forge other documents, publication of false news and forgery of documents.
The accused persons are alleged to have forged and published a police persons wanted form for the arrest of one Isaac Opoku, a resident of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
Case Facts
Bishop Obinim allegedly forged and published a Police Persons Wanted Form against a man in Kumasi without official endorsement.
The said wanted person form bearing the details of the supposed fugitive called Isaac Opoku, according to court documents, was circulated on social media of certain individuals who are linked to Obinim including Mr. Okyere.
Obinim Deposit
The alleged forgery of police documents by Bishop Obinim, according to the prosecution, resulted from some GH¢51,280 he reportedly deposited in Isaac Opoku’s bank account.
According to court documents, Bishop Obinim transferred GH¢49,160 out of the amount into his Kaizer Bank account in Spain but it was later returned into Opoku’s bank account in Ghana.
Opoku then used the money, claiming he did so because of a promise Obinim made to him in front of his congregation to buy him a car.
It was the back-and-forth that followed efforts by Obinim to retrieve the money that led to the alleged forgery of police document.
Key Suspect
Mr. Okyere was then arrested by the police after it emerged that the alleged police persons wanted formed appeared on his Facebook page under the name ‘Angel Obinim Ba KobbyFireman.’
The complainant in the matter, according to court documents, made a follow up on the publication at the Police Headquarters but was told that the police did not issue any such form.
The alleged forged publications were subsequently deleted by the owners of the Facebook pages but the complainant according to the prosecution had already taken screenshots of the page.
Mr. Okyere is alleged to have gone into hiding until his arrest in Kumasi.
“A subsequent check on Facebook during interrogation of accused persons revealed that the Facebook account ‘Angel Obinim Ba KobbyFireman’ had been deleted,” the court document revealed.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak