By Kehinde Fashola, Washington DC
The crisis within the Celestial Church of Christ, Metro Parish in Washington DC has taken a different dimension as the handlers of the church accounts have been fingered in money laundering.
“Yes, they have engaged in a serious Money laundering act because they have been using United States funds to pay a Nigeria-based law chamber to fight a legal battle” the general secretary of Celestial Focus, Comrade Elder Joseph Aboderin told Nigerian Concord.
Recall that some national newspapers had recently reported how the sacked shepherd of the parish, AVS Michael Odubanjo, the self-acclaimed patron of the church, Elder Pius Adebowale and some criminal elements within the crisis-ridden Parish had diverted a whooping sum of $121,000 from the church account without the Treasury Department.
“Not only that. Another sum of $70,000 had been siphoned by them” Aboderin stressed..
The said money was moved out of the parish bank accounts without a proper documentation or any tangible church project to be done. “They have however started contributing the money they stole since the story came up” Aboderin pressed further.
This illegal withdrawal was confirmed by Elder Pius Adebowale himself in a leaked telephone conversation he had with some leaders of the Celestial Church of Christ in USA and Nigeria recently.
“The leaked audio which was broadcast on YouTube and several other Social media last week actually exposed the looting spree going on under the Odubanjo/Adebowale self-imposed leadership in the parish” Aboderin stated.
Also recalled that the Pastor and Spiritual Leader of the CCC Worldwide, Reverend EMF Oshoffa had few months written an official letter to recall AVS Michael Odubanjo who had been described as an “Italian Mafia” by parishioners as a result of his irregular immigration status.
According to the Pastor, the sacked shepherd was also stopped from being a shepherd in any Celestial Church of Christ parish worldwide as a result of his act of insubordination. Odubanjo had been accused of gathering some elders loyal to him to write that the Parish would no longer stay under the authority of EMF Oshoffa.
However, AVS Michael Odubanjo who has been collecting his salaries by hand bi-weekly has continued to loot the Treasury of the Parish with the help of the kangaroo Parochial committee which he is backing to oversee the affairs of the church.
The kangaroo committee was supposed to have handed over to the newly elected Parochial Committee of the Parish but up till now, Odubanjo and his cohorts have not allowed the process to take place because they know that it wouldn’t be business as usual. “And the looting of church funds and impunity against the leadership of EMF Oshoffa continued under Odubanjo’s illegal leadership of the parish” Celestial Focus Aboderin said.
Immediately the report was broken, AVS Michael Odubanjo and the illegal Parochial Committee of the church approached a Nigeria-based legal office which was paid heavily with United States funds to seek for a retraction of a story which was broken by Nigerian Concord Newspaper.
“That the Parish would engage in money laundering by transporting US funds to Nigeria to pay a local law chamber and a self-acclaimed Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Gboyega Oyewole is a serious offence both in the USA and Nigeria” Celestial Focus stressed.
Several public affairs analysts who have spoken about the act said that the leadership of Metro Parish should be brought to justice by the US government since money laundering is a federal crime in the USA, punishable under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956 and 1957.
The analysts stated that the offenders if convicted can spend up to 20 years in prison or be made to pay up to $500,000 or twice the value of the laundered funds and also have their assets forfeited.
The public affairs analysts pressed further that a case of money laundering should also be instituted against Lords Temple law chamber for allowing itself through one Gboyega Oyewole, SAN to be used as a vehicle to launder Metro Parish money from the US to pay a legal bill.
According to them, the lawyer who acted on behalf of the Chamber, Mr. Gboyega Oyewole SAN can face up to 14 years imprisonment or pay a fine of about N25 million if it is established that the sacked shepherd and the illegal Parochial Committee of the parish truly transported US funds to pay the Chamber in Nigeria.
The law chamber named Lords Temple with his office located at Hubert Marcualay Way Yaba, Lagos State in the letter which Odubanjo’s men were sharing on the social media specifically and illegally libeled one Mrs Ebun Enahoro, falsely claiming that she was the one revealing some vital information about the parish to this newspaper.
And for defaming one Ebun Enahoro, the public affairs analysts made it known that the representative of Lords Temple Law Chamber, Mr. Gboyega Oyewole, SAN if sued for a libel case can be forced by a competent court to provide proofs that she (Ebun Enahoro) truly gave out information about Metro Parish to journalists.
Meanwhile, as a serious-minded media organization, we are giving Lords Temple Law Chamber and its representative, Gboyega Oyewole, SAN ten days to publish proofs that the woman they accused was truly the one that gave our journalists in the US the information about CCC Metro Parish in Washington DC. They must also provide proofs that there has ever been any conversation between this newspaper and her as they have accused.
Just as we won’t retract any statement in our earlier reports, we are also promising to take a legal action against the Law Chamber for it to provide proofs of their claims.
Recall that AVS Michael Odubanjo with birthdate xx-xx- 1960 who entered the United States through Dulles International Airport, Washington DC on an Italian Passport with ESTA Temporary Visitor Visa on November 29, 2024 was asked to quit CCC Metro Parish by Pastor EMF Oshoffa on the basis that he doesn’t have the required immigration status to work as a shepherd on the soil of the United States. He has however been taking salaries by hand since last year.
In his words, the General Secretary of Celestial Focus, Elder Aboderin said: “The last time l remembered, the Italian man Odubanjo was transferred to Metro Parish in Washington DC by the pastor, EMF OSHOFFA. He arrived here November 29th, 2024 as a temporary visitor.
“Upon REV EMF realizing that Odubanjo had lied about his work permit in America that he had perfected it, and that he was working illegally in metro parish as an illegal alien not unauthorized to work, but only to come America as a classified visitor under the ESTA program of stay of 60-90 days only, Pastor EMF Oshoffa asked the Italian man in a written letter to leave metro and the United States back to Italy until he gets a work authorization from the United States immigration (USCIS)
“Odubanjo however left in February 2025, and returned into America again as a temporary visitor on ESTA Visa for a 2nd 60-90 days visit. Rev. EMF Oshoffa again asked him on March 2nd, 2025 if he had done his work permit on live phone call from Metro Parish. And he answered Yes, saying that it was the paper he came to sign. “Iwe naa ni mo wa sign meaning “It is the documents l have come to sign”
“On that phone call, Papa Oshoffa now instructed Odubanjo to send him a copy of his work permit from USA immigration, up till the date he was fired by the Pastor, the Italian man did not submit any work permit to pastor Oshoffa office. Instead, pius Adebowale wrote a letter to the Pastor that Metro Parish was trying to get a qualified immigration lawyer to help Odubanjo with his work permit from USA immigration”