A former member of the Lord’s Chosen Church, Dike Atuenyi has accused a popular minister Pastor Muoka in Lagos of owing him 13 years salary.
Rather than pay him, he alleged that Pastor Muoka the General Overseer of the church threatened to deal with him the same way he dealt with other members who had similar cases with the church.
Atuenyi traced the genesis of his ordeal to 2009, when Pastor Muoka reportedly lured him to resign from his former workplace at the Lagos State Ministry of Transport, where he earned N350,000, with a promise to double the amount if he accepted to work at the church’s Transport department.
However, after accepting the church’s job offer in June 2029, he said he was never paid a dime.
Atuenyi further alleged that while working with the church, he was involved in ghastly auto crashes on two occasions and that the two vehicles: a 4Matic Mercedes SUV and a Sienna, were destroyed beyond repair. He said that Pastor Muoka of the church promised to replace the cars but never did.
Speaking with journalists at the Lagos office of Ambassadors for Peace and Enlightenment Foundation, AMPEF, in Ijegun, he said, “Each time I asked for my salary, Pastor Muoka would cajole me with promises of the great plans he had to establish me in a big way. But he refused to pay my salaries for those years until I left Lord’s Chosen in November 2022.”
Alleged threat to life “Sometime in January 2023, I was invited by Pastor Muoka following the intervention of Ambassadors for Peace and Enlightenment Foundation, AMPEF, a human rights organization, to make peace, by settling our differences. But to my surprise, I received the most fearful and terrifying threats to life utterances from Pastor Muoka. He told me repeatedly to make findings of Juliet’s whereabouts popularly known as ‘One Man Mopol’, a member of the church, who dared to challenge the authority of Mouka on the account of unpaid services· This threat was established by Mouka to further intimidate me into dropping my demands.”
“Pastor Muoka challenged me to take the matter anywhere, saying I would regret taking such a step and the conversation was captured on record,” he stated.
Petitions Police
In his bid to seek justice, he said he petitioned the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos.
The petition which was signed on his behalf by Peter Odinakachukwu of the AMPEF, appealed to the Zone to use the force of the Law to ensure that the case was thoroughly investigated, to pay his owed salary from June 2009 to November 2022 and to ensure that no harm befell Atuenyi.
However, the church’s general overseer snubbed the Police invitations and in the end, the Police discharged the matter without any investigation.
Church reacts
Reacting to the development, the Media representative of the Lord’s Chosen church, Pastor Chidi Louis said: “It is not in our character to trade words with Mr Dike or anyone. But for the benefit of doubt, there is no truth in his spurious claim. Neither the church nor the Pastor owes him anything. He is just being tele-guided by the devil to blackmail and extort the church. Everyone knows the church’s position on holiness and righteousness; in fact, this is what endeared the Pastor to the multitude of worshippers who daily visit the church.
“His petition to the police at zone 2 has been attended to and he was advised to take the matter to court as police bluntly refused to be dragged into debt collection particularly where there is no debt to collect. You can verify. And the allegation that he was appointed to head the transport department of the church to the extent of owing him over a whopping sum of #100m is a lie from the pit of hell. How could someone who didn’t see the four walls of an elementary school and couldn’t make a simple sentence manage more than 1000 fleets of vehicles of an international organization like The Lord’s Chosen? He is just seeking attention. He also claimed he held a position in the Lagos state transport ministry and has no evidence to prove that. God will judge him. The Scripture says, “But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons” (Col. 3: 25)
“In one of his frivolous petitions that went viral, he accused the man of God of murder and Police has found out after investigation that he is a dumb liar and will be charged to court soon. As far as we are concerned, what he is doing is nothing but to distract the ongoing revival caused by our great ministry. But our hope is anchored on the Scripture which says, “…I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”