Ayodele Fayose, the Governor of Ekiti State, South West Nigeria, Wednesday morning prevented operatives of the State Security Services, DSS, from arresting Apostle Suleiman, the founder of Omega Fire Ministries, in the state capital, Ado-Ekiti.
The Edo state based preacher has been in the news since last week following the release of a video footage widely shared on social media, where he could be heard urging his congregants to kill any Fulani herdsman seen around the church.
“I have told them in the church here that any Fulani herdsman that just enter by mistake and want to pretend, kill him. Kill him. Cut his head. If they are busy killing Christians and nothing is happening, we will kill them and nothing will happen,” the man of God told his followers.
The pastor who is in Ekiti for a two day crusade was saved from being arrested by by men of the state Department of state security by the intervention of Governor Ayo Fayose, according to a statement posted on WhatsApp, Lere Olayinka, the media assistant to the Governor.
In the video posted on whatsApp on the incident by Olayinka, Apostle Suleiman said, “I called some people and they said there were some men here who said they want to see me at the dead of the night. Something was fishy, the preacher was seen saying in a video footage posted on Mr. Olayinka’s Facebook page, around 3 a.m. on Wednesday.
“Only for the people to come and I discovered they were DSS men with trucks but the governor came and took me out of the hotel. They were trying to break into the room. It was the crowd that scared them.”
Apostle Suleiman warned of dire consequences if he is arrested.
“The truth I want to pass out: If I spend a day with security operatives, if I spend one day with security operatives, I have churches in 42 countries and I have alerted them. Every Nigerian embassy in those countries will be in trouble.
“If I spend one day with security operatives the damage that will happen in Nigeria will take one year to repair. In this country alone I have over half a million people and the reaction already.. If I spend one day, the damage that will happen will take one year to repair,” he said.
Governor Fayose condemned the manner the DSS came after the preacher and warned against intimidation of men of God.