Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose early Wednesday morning, foiled an alleged attempt by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, from arresting Apostle Johnson Suleiman of The Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide.
Apostle Johnson Suleiman was said to be in Ado Ekiti for a crusade.
The fiery preacher had preached against alleged plots to Islamise Nigeria and had told members of his church to kill any fulani-herdsmen are targeting Christians for decimation.
The Pastor had been in Ado Ekiti for a two-day crusade and was allegedly trailed after paying a courtesy visit to governor Fayose at the Government House.
The DSS operatives were said to have stormed the preacher’s hotel, waiting for him to arrive for the day’s programme, which was to be attended by Fayose
The DSS agents were said to have attempted to forcefully take the preacher from his hotel room in the Adebayo area of the state capital, but were resisted by the security men at the hotel, who insisted on knowing their mission.
The Pastor was alerted and he called on Governor Fayose who personally led a rescue mission to prevent the DSS operatives from taking the preacher away.
Fayose, who recently became Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor’s Forum, took the Pastor with him from the hotel for safety and reportedly engaged the security operatives in a verbal altercation on the propriety of their mission.
After the incident, Apostle Sulaiman said: “I came to Ado Ekiti for a crusade. But I had a premonition that I was being trailed after I preached that Christians should retaliate any attack or killings by the Fulani herdsmen. These Fulani headmen have turned many Christians to orphans and widowers but the time has come to protect ourselves.
“I received several calls from hidden numbers trying to locate where I was and I had warned my security not to allow any Fulani man to come near me. So when the men of DSS came in the middle of the night, I knew their mission and I had to call the Governor because if they arrest me, they will set this country on fire.”
Reacting to the incident, Governor Fayose, said he expected the security operatives to have invited him “if they have any issue with him instead of arresting him in the dead of the night after a powerful and spirit-filled crusade in the state.
“I personally attended his crusade and I think it is wrong for a man of God who is armless and could be invited if they have any issue against him before arresting him. Are Christians and Muslims under different dispensation of the rule of law? That’s why I went there to rescue him. Let them kill two of us together. But when they saw my vehicles and the crowd, they fled, Fayose said.
“But we have information that instructions came from DSS in Abuja that the Pastor should be arrested. We are not in a fascist state, Federal Government must learn to respect the rights of Nigerians and freedom of expression.”
The Governor noted that it was unbecoming of the Federal Government to be harassing the clergymen in the country noting that the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, was harassed and forced to resign shortly after he visited him in Ado Ekiti.
He said, “This is unacceptable, we are in a democracy and Nigerians should warn the Presidency against putting this country on fire because religion is an emotional thing.”
The governor also warned security operatives against intimidation and arrest of Preachers in the interest of peace and religious harmony in the country, adding that “The constitution guarantees freedom of worship.”
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