Holy Scam: Inside Nigeria's Booming Business of Faith and Fraud

Saturday PUNCH's September 12, 2026 front page carried a headline that has become painfully familiar to many Nigerians: "Holy Scam: When religious leaders turn faith into fortune." It is a theme investigative journalists and regulators in Nigeria have returned to again and again in recent years, as self-styled pastors and prophets increasingly monetize desperation, illness, and the search for miracles.

(Note: This piece draws on the broader, well-documented pattern of religious commercialisation and fraud in Nigeria that PUNCH's cover story addresses, since the full text of that specific report was not available to verify directly. The cases below are independently confirmed by multiple outlets.)

The Miracle Water Case That Triggered a National Debate

The clearest recent illustration of this pattern is the case of Prophet Jeremiah Omoto Fufeyin, leader of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry in Effurun, Delta State. In September 2024, Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) publicly warned Nigerians against a range of products sold through Fufeyin's church, including "Miracle & Healing Water," "River Jordan Water," "Water of Life," and a bar of soap marketed as capable of helping women conceive twins.

NAFDAC's Director-General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, said the agency acted after receiving numerous petitions from members of the public, and confirmed that none of the products had been registered or approved by the agency despite Fufeyin reportedly telling his congregation otherwise. The agency also said the ministry initially failed to cooperate with its investigation. Fufeyin's church pushed back, describing the claims as "unfounded narratives" and insisting it was law-abiding and operating within its constitutional right to religious freedom.

The case is notable not just for its specifics, but for what it revealed: a market of "miracle" consumer goods oils, waters, handkerchiefs, and soaps sold to congregants who often cannot afford them, marketed on the promise of curing infertility, disease, and poverty.

A Well-Worn Playbook
Nigerian commentators and researchers who have studied this phenomenon describe a recognisable set of tactics used by fraudulent religious leaders:

Prosperity theology as sales pitch congregants are told that "seeding" money to the ministry, or purchasing anointed items, will unlock financial breakthroughs, healing, or fertility.

Manufactured testimonies some fraudulent operators reportedly coach members to give false public testimonies of healing, which are then used to attract new, more desperate followers.

Targeting the vulnerable the elderly, the chronically ill, and those facing financial hardship or infertility are disproportionately targeted, precisely because conventional solutions have failed them or are out of reach.

Branding fraud as blessing victims are frequently discouraged from questioning claims, on the basis that doing so reflects a lack of faith.

Beyond miracle products, Nigerian police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have separately prosecuted numerous cases in which religious titles were used as a front for financial crimes, including outright investment scams marketed to congregations as faith-based "blessed" returns.

The Regulatory Dilemma
The Fufeyin case also exposed a genuine legal and institutional grey area: how far can a drug and food regulator go in policing claims that are framed as matters of religious faith rather than medical fact? Legal commentators have noted that NAFDAC's mandate covers the safety and regulatory status of physical products, not the truth of spiritual claims meaning agencies are often left prosecuting the packaging and marketing of "miracle" goods rather than the underlying deception itself.

This has led to calls from civil society groups, including the Critical Thinking Social Empowerment Foundation, for closer, sustained scrutiny of religious organisations that sell products or solicit money on the basis of unverifiable healing claims, while cautioning that any regulatory response must be carefully balanced against Nigeria's constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.

Why the Pattern Persists
Nigeria's high rates of poverty, disease burden, and gaps in access to affordable healthcare create fertile ground for this kind of exploitation. Where formal medical or financial systems are seen as slow, expensive, or unreliable, prosperity preaching offers an appealing if ultimately hollow alternative. Critics within the church itself, including some clergy, have argued that fraudulent operators discredit genuine religious institutions and prey specifically on people who have exhausted other options.

As PUNCH's cover story underscores, the "Holy Scam" is not a fringe problem but a recurring national one sitting, in this particular edition, alongside other stories of Nigerians losing savings to Ponzi schemes and falling victim to romance scams, in a broader picture of a country grappling with multiple, overlapping forms of financial predation.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/Science communicator, Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,United States Institute of Peace (USIP), [email protected] +233555275880

Sources
ThisDay Live, "Fufeyin: NAFDAC Should Investigate Faith Healers and Claims," September 2024

The Cable, "'Unfounded narratives' pastor denies using NAFDAC's name to sell miracle water"

The Star (Kenya)/BBC wire report, "Nigerian officials warn people off church's 'miracle' water," September 2024

LawPavilion Blog, "NAFDAC and The Challenge of Miracle Products and Claims," Odoh Diego Okenyodo

Nation Media Group (The Citizen), "Nigerian authorities probe 'scam' of prosperity churches"

Saturday PUNCH, September 12, 2026 front page, "Holy Scam: When religious leaders turn faith into fortune" (headline referenced; full article text not independently retrieved)