Authorities in Ethiopia have repatriated 80 Ugandans who were duped and fleeced of their money with promises to meet Jesus.
The leader of the team, Pastor Simon Opolot has been on the joint security team’s wanted list for duping believers attached to Christ Disciples Church in Soroti, Eastern Uganda to sell their property and prepare to meet Jesus.
According to security, Opolot said he had received a vision that Jesus was going to pick a few people to go to heaven and those to be chosen had to be in Ethiopia.
Those who were convinced sold their belongings, handed all the money to Opolot and trekked through Moroto and Amudat districts to cross the Ugandan border until they found their way to Ethiopia.
This group started moving between January and March this year.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs Spokesperson Simon Peter Mundeyi said that when the group arrived in Ethiopia, authorities there noticed that they were all weak and heavy-laden, raiding suspicion about their intent.
It was at that point that they revealed that they had gone there to meet Jesus on a journey to heaven.
Mundeyi said Ethiopian authorities decided to gather all the people who were arriving in separate groups and confined them in one place.
They later contacted their Ugandan counterparts who did the documentation and arrangements for them to be returned home.
“The returnees have said Pr Opolot convinced them to fast for 40 days so that they can meet Jesus on the 41st day. The condition was that to meet Jesus, they needed to be in Ethiopia, and according to him, the world would immediately end.
Security is puzzled by the fact that almost half of the group are educated people who have been serving as teachers and civil servants in Soroti and neighbouring districts.
The Internal Affairs Ministry said that members of this group risked death if Ethiopian authorities had not taken care of them, because they were fragile after travelling a long distance without meals.
Opolot’s acts are similar to Pr Paul Makenzie in Kenya who convinced his followers to fast to death in order to go to heaven. At least more than 150 people were discovered dead and buried in a forest.
