Evangelism turns ugly for a self-acclaimed evangelist, Mr. Akinjide Durojaiye, who was beaten to pulp for allegedly stealing two new techno phones in an office within Femi Johnson Building, at Dugbe, Ibadan.
The 49-year-old man, who claimed to be an evangelist at Dominion Assembly, Ilare-Ijesa in Osun State, said he was at the office where phones and accessories were sold, to preach the gospel to the occupants.
It was gathered that Durojaiye further claimed that he came all the way from Ilare-Ijesa on an evangelism mission to Ibadan, adding that it was the ‘spirit’ which directed him to the office to preach to them.
He was reportedly apprehended by the attendants and onlookers at the office while trying to make away with the two packs of phones valued at N70,000.
One of the shop attendants, who gave his name as Tunde, said he did not notice when the evangelist stole the phones, which were on display.
He added that they were already carried away by his preaching.
While being chased by the people, Durojaiye was said to have hidden in a store within the office complex, but was discovered by another attendant in one of the offices, after which he was brought out and beaten blue and black, while the stolen phones were recovered from him.
The self-acclaimed evangelist, who clutched a copy of the Holy Bible to his chest, attributed the incident to the work of the devil, saying it was his attempt to get money to treat his seven-year-old son, who was on admission at a hospital in Osun State that pushed him into committing the act.
Durojaiye, a father of four, said the son, whom he gave his name as Oluwadurosinmi, jumped from a two-storey building in Ilare-Ijesa which, he said, led to his being hospitalized.
He further claimed that his wife had divorced him, thus leaving him to take care of the children.
The man was, however, released after thorough beating due to the intervention by the people in the neighborhood, who thronged the scene of the incident.
