By Caleb Ayemere
The presiding pastor of Salvation Ministries, David Ibiyeomie has condemned internet fraud ‘Yahoo’, equating cybercrime directly to theft and ordering fraudsters within his congregation to take their offerings elsewhere.
The cleric delivered the sharp rebuke during a recent sermon, warning that the church will not accept financial contributions derived from illicit activities or the exploitation of innocent victims.
“Do you know there are Yahoo boys inside the church? They have no conscience. Even in this church, there are Yahoo boys. You will wonder, what is their conscience?” Pastor Ibiyeomie stated during the service. “They will yahoo somebody and still be very happy in church. It is stealing. Yahoo is stealing. You are just colourising it, but it is stealing. Is it your money? I don’t care how much you colourise it; it is still stealing. Is it your money? Whatever you take that belongs to someone else is stealing. Yahoo is stealing. How can you be friends with a Yahoo person?”
Highlighting the devastating human toll of cybercrime, the cleric recounted the tragic story of an electrical engineer and university professor who served as a consultant on one of the ministry’s electronic sites.
The cleric disclosed that the professor lost his entire life savings to fraudsters, a devastating financial blow that ultimately triggered a fatal medical emergency.
“I know of a Professor in River State University, he was one of our consultants of at the site, an electronic engineer. This man they yahooed him of all that he had in his account. He physically held his buglar-proof and collapsed, he died. They took every money saved..”
Addressing congregants who associate with cybercriminals or benefit from illicit proceeds, the pastor urged Christians to sever personal ties with fraudsters, stressing that financial desperation offers no moral justification for ruining lives.
“And if you are in this church and you are yahoo, you will go to another church and do your offering. I don’t care how much you have because you are killing people, many people have died because of yahoo.”
In his concluding remarks, Pastor Ibiyeomie rejected the notion that economic hardship justifies cybercrime, maintaining that taking someone’s lifetime savings under the guise of survival remains morally unacceptable in the eyes of God.
Vanguard News
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