A 29-year-old Rev. Father,
Anthony Marie Wendji, was
on Tuesday arraigned for
alleged cheating before a
Makurdi Magistrates’ Court.
The prosecuting officer,
Insp. James Zungwe, told
the court that the case was
transferred from ‘A’
Division Police Station,
Gboko, to the State CID,
Makurdi.
According to the transfer
letter, one Simon Onyeabo
reported that the accused
dishonestly deceived him
that he was a Reverend
Father assigned to train
seminarians for Holy Face
Congregation.
The complainant stated
further that the accused
under that pretext,
appointed him as
coordinator and induced
him to collect the sum of
N70,000 each from
Seminary Applicants for the
training.
He disclosed that the total
money collected was
N840,000 from the 12
applicants and the
“Reverend” who is said to
come from Bangassou,
Central African Republic,
promised to take them to
Cameroun after training.
Simon Onyeabo said that
they later discovered while
on training at Holy Face
Community House
established by the
Reverend in Gboko that he
was operating an illegal
institution.
He said that the reverend
had no approval either from
the Corporate Affairs
Commission or Diocese of
Gboko to operate the
institution.
The complainant stated that
when the accused realised
that they had discovered
his secret, he sent them
away without refunding
their money or sending
them to Cameroun as he
promised, and he even went
ahead to recruit new
seminarians.
During police investigation,
the Reverend Father was
arrested for the alleged
offence. The prosecutor
said that the offence
contravened Section 324 of
the Penal Code.
When the case came up for
mention, Rev. Father,
Anthony pleaded not guilty.
The Magistrate, Mrs
Theresa Wergbah, granted
him bail in the sum of
N50,000 and a surety. The
case was thus adjourned to
January 16, 2014, for trial.
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