DSS cautions Apostle Suleman over provocative statement

The Department of State Services (DSS) has cautioned the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman, to watch his tongue because of the importance attached to his messages by his followers.

The caution the DSS gave Suleman is sequel to his alleged sermon asking his followers to kill any herdsmen found within his church premises.

The sermon caught the attention of DSS operatives who tried to apprehend the cleric in Ekiti state before they were stopped by Governor Ayo Fayose on January 25.

The service then invited Suleman to its office in Abuja for interrogation on Monday January 31, over the issue, where it told the cleric to stop granting interviews.

The secret service has asked the cleric to stop granting interviews.

A security source at the DSS who does not want to be named, told the Punch that Suleman was equally told by security operatives to know that his followership cut across Christianity and Islam and should therefore mind the way he speaks.

The source said: “We asked him why he made such a provocative statement and he defended himself.

“He (Suleman) said he made the statement based on available information that some herdsmen were planning to attack him and that he merely asked his church members to defend him and the church property.

“While we didn’t argue with him, we asked him to note that his followership cuts across the two dominant religions, which are Christianity and Islam.

“We also asked him to note that the Federal Government was doing its best to curtail the activities of the herdsmen and also fight crime generally.

“He said he knew, but added that the government needed to do much more and that he was not out to cause religious crisis but was merely expressing his anger at the refusal of government to take actions that he said could reasonably convince Nigerians that it (the government) is not partial.”

The source also disclosed that both parties have agreed not to speak with the media on the outcome of the interrogation.

He explained that the DSS had to move Suleman’s interrogation from 10am to 8pm in order to avoid further controversies surrounding the invitation.

Reacting to his visit, Suleiman, who refused to speak on whether he was banned from speaking during his interrogation, commended the DSS operatives.

He said they exhibited what he described as professionalism in their work.

*This report earlier appeared in Sun on 01/02/2017.