Police rescue worshippers stuck in Nigerian church for months awaiting Second Coming

According to media reports, the crowd has been in the Whole Bible Believers Church in Ondo Town for up to months after being told to expect the Second Coming in April.

Among them were school-going children, who had abandoned school after the announcement. A mother is said to have raised an alarm after her children went missing, saying she suspected that they were in the church.

"Preliminary investigation revealed that one Pastor Josiah Peter Asumosa, an assistant pastor in the church, was the one who told the members that Rapture will take place in April, but later said it has been changed to September 2022 and told the young members to obey only their parents in the Lord," the BBC quoted Nigerian police press officer Funmilayo Odunlami as having said.

Local police have since arrested the pastor of the Pentecostal church, David Anifowoshe, and his deputy while the victims have been taken into the care of the authorities.

The authorities said they are also investigating suspected mass abduction into the incident that saw 26 children, eight teenagers and 43 adults rescued.

In the Christian faith, it is believed that Jesus Christ will return in The Second Coming after his Biblical ascension to Heaven over two thousand years ago.

Rapture is the belief that Christian believers will be taken to Heaven during the Second Coming.