ENUGU, NIGERIA — The Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction and sentencing of a notorious fake cleric, Godwin Sunday Ajuluchukwucheya, popularly known to his followers as “Prophet Sunday Koboko.”
Appearing before Justice H. O. Eya of the Enugu State High Court sitting in Independence Layout, the self-styled prophet was prosecuted on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence and stealing to the tune of ₦136,436,000.
Taking advantage of the intense socio-economic hardships and vulnerabilities of his congregation, Ajuluchukwucheya built a multi-million naira fraudulent empire using bizarre spiritual claims and a fake lotto investment scheme.
The N30 Billion “Baba Ijebu” Miracle
According to the official charge sheet, the fake prophet systematically defrauded unsuspecting members of his church between 2023 and February 2025.
His primary financial trap was a fraudulent investment scheme. Ajuluchukwucheya falsely claimed to his congregation that he had won a staggering ₦30 billion in the popular “Baba Ijebu” lotto game. He then lured church members into investing their hard-earned money into a special scheme, promising them massive dividends backed by his supposed lottery windfall.
THE ANATOMY OF THE PROPHETIC SCAM
┌───────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CONVICT'S IDENTITY │ • Godwin Sunday Ajuluchukwucheya │
│ │ (a.k.a Prophet Sunday Koboko) │
├───────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ TOTAL FRAUD VALUE │ • ₦136,436,000 │
├───────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ CORE BIZARRE CLAIMS │ • Raising a dead husband from the grave (₦6.7m). │
│ │ • Telepathically bringing back an emigrant. │
│ │ • ₦30 Billion "Baba Ijebu" lotto dividend. │
└───────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The EFCC intervened after distraught victims realized the promises were completely fabricated and that their life savings had vanished into the prophet’s personal accounts.
Selling “Holy Ghost Thunder” and Raising the Dead
As the EFCC launched its investigation, the Directorate was flooded with dozens of petitions from members of the convict’s ministry, detailing a pattern of calculated spiritual manipulation.
Among the harrowing testimonies was a petition from Mrs. Ngene Nkiruka Jane. The grieving widow revealed that the fake prophet presented himself as a true man of God and deceptively promised he possessed the spiritual power to raise her late husband from the dead.
Mrs. Jane was fleeced of ₦6,700,000, a sum that covered both the phantom resurrection services and the lotto investment scheme.
Another victim, Okey Uwakwe, petitioned the anti-graft agency after being defrauded of ₦6,231,400. The prophet had convinced Uwakwe that he could spiritually control his brother—who had traveled abroad in 1997 and lost contact with the family—and force him to return to Nigeria.
The EFCC uncovered that Ajuluchukwucheya’s standard modus operandi relied heavily on selling bizarre, overpriced spiritual commodities under the guise of prosperity. His merchandise catalog included:
- “Miracle Stickers”
- “Spiritual Dragons”
- “Holy Ghost Thunder”
The Guilty Plea and Asset Forfeiture
When the charges were read to him, Ajuluchukwucheya realized the weight of the evidence compiled by the EFCC and pleaded guilty.
Following his plea, the EFCC prosecution counsel, Assistant Commander of the EFCC (ACE II) Rotimi Ajobiewe, prayed the court to convict and sentence him in accordance with the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
Delivering judgment, Justice Eya sentenced the fake prophet to one year in prison with an option of a ₦500,000 fine. Crucially, the court struck a major blow against the convict’s financial base by ordering the immediate forfeiture of his choice landed property in Enugu.
“The convict’s landed property covered by Customary Certificate of Occupancy, dated 25th July 1989… shall be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and shall be sold and the proceeds used as restitution of the victims of the offence.” — Justice H. O. Eya, Enugu State High Court
Editorial Takeaway
While the forfeiture of the property offers a glimmer of hope for the financial restitution of the victims, public observers note that the one-year sentence—or the option of a ₦500,000 fine—pales in comparison to the immense psychological damage inflicted on vulnerable widows and families.
The case serves as a stark warning to the Nigerian public regarding the rising wave of clerical fraud, where smooth-talking spiritual extortionists exploit the country’s harsh economic realities to trade in “miracle” commodities and fake financial returns.
