I was duped by man who promised to make me commandant – Pastor Adeboye

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has disclosed how his ambition to lead a paramilitary group led to a significant personal loss

Adeboye recounted an incident from years ago when he was deceived by someone claiming to offer him a prestigious position.

He said the man, who presented himself as a recruiter for a new paramilitary agency, convinced him to invest in the venture.

The clergy revealed this in a post on his X handle on Monday.

Describing his decision to trust the man as a lapse in judgment influenced by his past fascination with the military, Adeboye admitted that his desire to fulfil this role led him to act prematurely.

He narrated, “Years ago, I was duped by a man who promised to make me a commandant of a paramilitary group. This man had been sending messages to me through my secretary for a while, and so, one day, I gave him an audience. He explained to me how a Boy-Scouts-like group had evolved into this new agency, and that he was sourcing for who would lead the group spiritually.

“Normally, I ask God before getting involved in anything at all, but this time, my love for the military in my younger days beclouded my best instincts, and I agreed to be their head. He told me that they needed some funding, which I gave as the prospective head. However, I later found out that the man was a fake.”

He, however, noted that the experience birthed the Redemption City corps and a local police post.

“My desire to be part of a paramilitary group made me run ahead of God, but God had already purposed for Redemption City to have its own corps of chaplains as well as a local Police post. He knew the desire of my heart, and He had planned for it to be fulfilled in His own time. I thought that I could bring my desire to fulfilment in my own time, but I was wrong. What I lost in that experience was money, but for someone else, it might have been their life or a loved one.

“However, I later found out that the man was a fake. My desire to be part of a paramilitary group made me run ahead of God, but God had already purposed for Redemption City to have its own corps of chaplains as well as a local Police post. He knew the desire of my heart, and He had planned for it to be fulfilled in His own time. I thought that I could bring my desire to fulfilment in my own time, but I was wrong. What I lost in that experience was money, but for someone else, it might have been their life or a loved one,” he added.