Eight pastors have been arraigned before a court in Anambra State on several charges brought under the state's Homeland Security law, in a case centred on allegations that they staged fake miracles inside their churches. According to Channels Television, the court took the pleas of the accused and ordered that they be remanded as proceedings got under way.
At the heart of the prosecution is the claim that the pastors procured and paid people to stage manage miracles. Investigators allege that the hired individuals were instructed to dramatise and act as though they had been healed and delivered during church services, presenting the scenes to congregations as genuine acts of divine intervention.
All of the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court ordered them remanded in a correctional facility and adjourned the matter to June 15, 2026, when it is expected to hear their applications for bail. Until then, the defendants will remain in custody while the legal process continues.
The group is made up mostly of men, with a few women among the accused. The churches linked to each defendant are listed in the information filed before the court, tying the individual pastors directly to the places of worship where the alleged performances are said to have taken place.
Under the Anambra State Homeland Security law, the offences carry significant penalties. Those convicted face up to six years in prison, or a fine of 20 million naira, or both, underlining how seriously the state has chosen to treat the staging of fake miracles for worshippers.
Some of the pastors were not charged alone. According to the case before the court, a number of them face proceedings alongside their agents, the people they allegedly relied on to procure and pay the actors who then dramatised the supposed healings and deliverances on their behalf.
The prosecutions fit a wider stance taken by the Soludo administration, which has consistently vowed to tackle activities it describes as exploitative and capable of misleading vulnerable members of the public. Officials have framed such deceptive practices as detrimental to public safety and social order, presenting the court action as part of that broader effort.