By Our Reporter
A dispute over the ownership of a Nigerian church in the United States of America has worsened with the release of a video, alleging a sex scandal in the church.
The church, First Christ Apostolic Church WOSEM in Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America is a branch of the World Soul Evangelical Ministry (WOSEM) founded by the late renowned televangelist, Prophet Timothy Oluwole Obadare.
A crisis had broken out in the church about five years ago when the Pastor-in-charge, Bankole Gbangbalasa, was accused of attempting to take over the church after he decided to stop remitting funds to the church headquarters in Nigeria.
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The Nigerian Xpress gathered that Gbangbalasa was not the church’s founding pastor. He took over the leadership after the first pastor embezzled the church’s funds and was sent away.
On taking over, Pastor Gbangbalasa, a successful insurance executive, was said to have used personal funds to pay debts owed by the church and also reorganised the worship centre.
The church, however, ran into crisis when the pastor stopped to remit funds to the headquarters in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria.
His justification was that the Maryland branch was using the funds, which were expected to be remitted to Nigeria, to assist indigent members of the church in the United States.
The pastor’s decision, which has the backing of many parishioners, did not go down well with some, who felt that it was not helpful to the head church and the memory of the late Prophet Obadare.
Several conciliatory efforts, including one by a first-class traditional ruler in Ondo State where many of the church members hail from have failed to thaw the ice.
The Nigerian Xpress further learnt that the pastor severed relationship with the headquarters when an attempt was made to oust him. The church ownership dispute is now in court.
The surfacing of a video recording on social media by a man, simply identified as Kole, who accused another member of the church, Tuyi ,of having slept with his wife and also planning to sleep with his daughter has further deepened the church dispute.
The drama in front of the church building at 2226 Park Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217 was recorded on a morning just before the Sunday service.
The Nigerian Xpress confirmed that the caption on the viral video, accusing the pastor of the misdemeanour was incorrect.
It was gathered that the accuser, Kole had merely intended to dent the image of Pastor Gbangbalsa, being one of those opposed to the takeover.
The alleged culprit, Tuyi is a supporter of the pastor. He appeared in the video but did not speak.
The pastor himself wearing a brown suit with a collar could be seen in the video, looking on and mute.
Kole alleged that after the church member slept with his wife, he also sent text messages in December 2019 and on January 1, 2020, to his second daughter, Kunmi.
According to him, Kunmi then forwarded the text message to her elder sister, who replied the church member. He added that the accused still sent another message to Kunmi’s elder sister also.
The drama unfolded in front of the church, while members who were obviously embarrassed watched. Some of them made efforts to persuade the accuser to leave the church premises.
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One of the elderly church members opened Kole’s car door and was urging him to leave and saying the matter was personal and should not have been taken to the church. Kole warned the pacifier not to touch him and angrily retorted that the church too was involved in the matter.
He also insinuated that the pastor could not act fairly because he had shared $30,000 with the alleged culprit.
It was learnt that policemen were later invited to the church premises to ensure the situation did not turn into an exchange of fisticuffs.
