Ayodele Fayose, the Ekiti State governor and the chairman of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’s Forum, in the early hours of
Wednesday, January 25, thwarted operatives of the Department of State Services
(DSS) efforts to arrest Apostle Johnson Suleman of The Omega Fire Ministries
Worldwide in Ado Ekiti.
The Pastor who was in
Ado Ekiti for a two-day crusade was alleged to have preached against Fulani
herdsmen rampage by ordering his members to kill any suspected herdsmen they
find near him or his church recently in Auchi, Edo State.
According to reports by Vanguard, Suleman was trailed after
paying a courtesy visit to the governor at the Government House to his hotel
room by the operatives of the DSS in Adebayo area of the state capital.
The DSS operatives who
almost forced their way into the hotel was also said to have been resisted by
security men of the hotel who insisted on knowing their mission.
The pastor was said to have alerted Governor Fayose to apprise
him of the sudden development.
Consequently, Fayose personally led a rescue mission to prevent
the DSS from going away with the pastor by taking him to safety.
According to Suleman: “I
received several calls from hidden numbers trying to locate where I am and I
had warned my security not to allow any Fulani man to come nearer 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 put this country in
fire.”
Governor Fayose
expressed his shock over the development. He noted that instead of resulting to
such gestapo style of arrest, the DSS could have easily invited the man of God
if they have anything against 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 my state.”
The governor said: “I
personally attended his crusade and I think it is wrong for a man of God who is
armless that could be invited if they have any issue against him. Are
Christians and Moslems 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. “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.”
Going further, the governor said that harassment of clergymen is
a dangerous trend in the country because religion is a volatile issue
government should be wary of.
He therefore call on security operatives against intimidation
and arrest of men of God in the interest of peace and religious harmony in the
country.
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.”
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