PROPHET POKU told his followers he was driving from a mission to help the needy when the cops pounced.
The woman in the car with him, he said, was only there to help with his midnight missions of mercy.
BUT ACCORDING TO THE COPS, THE PASTOR IS A LIAR!
This is after a picture circulated on social media of popular pastor Prophet Nana Poku sitting in the back of a police van.
He was on his way to feed the vulnerable when he was bust because he didn’t have a permit.
According to police, Poku and a woman were parked on the side of the road.
Poku, leader of Kingdom Prayer Ministry in Rustenburg in North West, released a video on his Facebook page on Sunday.
“Something is going on on Facebook. Everybody is talking about it,” he said.
“People are saying Nana Poku’s been arrested. Beloved, don’t panic. I’ve not been arrested.”
On the first day of lockdown he delivered food at his church. There were people sleeping there. As he was pulling off, he said, police pulled him over and accused him of failing to stop.
“They put me in their car and said I must produce a permit,” poku said in the video.
He said he only spent 30 minutes at the Rustenburg cop shop.
“When I went there I didn’t have a permit.
“I’m always going around midnight or any time because I have a permit to move around. So, my friends, please don’t panic. The one who writes about this is the problem.”
He said he was fine.
“I’m still strong. I didn’t go anywhere. I spent 30 minutes in the police station and came home.”
His followers posted words of encouragement and love towards Poku following the video.
Poku’s statement and the police’s version are different, however.
Police spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo said the 36-year-old Poku was caught on 7 April.
“The pastor and a 23-year-old female were found in a parked vehicle next to the road in Rustenburg East by police who were doing special Covid-19 patrols,” said Naidoo.
“They were both arrested for failure by a person to be confined to residence during lockdown.”
They were issued with fines of R1 000 each. They’re expected to appear in court on 24 June.
When Daily Sun contacted Poku, he insisted his version of events was true.
“I was not parked on the side of the road. I was moving. I couldn’t immediately stop the car when police stopped me because it was dark. I pulled off a bit further,” he said.
Poku said after the image there were allegations he was found poking a woman in the car.
“I was driving with a woman at the time of the arrest.
“We were not having sex and there was no alcohol in the car as people claim.
“She’s a church member and helps me distribute food to over 20 people who’ve been housed in the church since lockdown rules were introduced.
“I have three houses. One of them is worth R3 million. I can’t sleep with a woman in a car.”
He didn’t have a permit at the time of the arrest, but he’s apparently applied for one and moves around freely.
Poku is a spiritual brother of a Prophet Angel Bazooka, who’s currently on the run and wanted by the police in connection with two rape cases.
At the time of his disappearance, police spokesman Captain Mpande Khoza said Bazooka was rumoured to have escaped to Ghana, his home country.
