PHILIPPINES: Philippines evangelist preacher Apollo Quiboloy has been arrested. The self-proclaimed “owner of the universe” and “appointed son of god” has been wanted on charges of molestation and child trafficking allegations.
He is pleading not guilty and says he has not committed any wrongdoing. Philippines Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr wrote on his Facebook page, “Apollo Quiboloy has been caught.” He did not, however, mention how or where he had been.
The pastor is also on the FBI’s most wanted list in the United States on charges of trafficking and bulk cash smuggling.
Quiboloy, who is believed to be somewhere between 74 and 77 years old, was indicted in 2021 by a grand jury in California on charges of conspiracy, trafficking of children, trafficking by force, fraud and coercion.
A federal warrant was issued for him to be arrested in November 2021.
Prosecutors in the United States say he recruited girls as young as 12 years old to work as assistants or pastorals in what was actually a trafficking operation that took place between 2002 and 2018.
According to records, these girls were forced to engage in intimate acts with him. He called this “night duty” with him and his accomplices, who would tell these young girls that obedience to him was God’s will and that it was also a means to salvation and a privilege.
Last month, 2,000 police officers searched Quiboloy’s compound in Davao. His church owns the compound called the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC). Police acted on reports that he was hiding out in a bunker there.
During the raid, which took place on Aug 24, his supporters heckled the police. Police and riot officers were injured in an assault by a member of the church who attacked them with stones and a kitchen knife.
The church group posted on their website that the police operation was “an illegal siege”.
One of the reasons that Quiboloy was said to have gotten away with his activities for a long time on the home front was his close relationship with the former leader of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte left office in 2022. Apparently, Quiboloy had even presented him with a house where he planned to retire.
Featured image: Depositphotos