Apostle Johnson Suleiman, the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, based in Auchi, Edo State, has vowed not to allow allegations made against him in an exclusive interview in the last edition of Saturday Sun by his alleged side chick, Miss Stephanie Otobo, go unchallenged. The cleric who spoke through his Media Advisor, Phrank Shaibu, in this interview with VINCENT KALU, dismissed Otobo’s claims, and challenged her to go to court to prove all her allegations.
How do you react to recent claims by Stephanie on her relationship with Apostle Suleiman?
It is not for her to probe the wisdom of the mother in going to beg for forgiveness. The mother has done what she felt was right and we have responded to the mother’s appeal for forgiveness. Can’t you guys see the contradiction in the claim of being poisoned by Apostle? First, she claimed that the poison was given to her by Apostle in a hotel. Next she said it was in a dream. Perhaps, she would come up with another bizarre tale. Seriously, even my three -year- old daughter can do better.
She also alleged that if Apostle presents his international passport, and places it side by side her’s, it will reveal that both of them travelled together on a certain day to Canada. What do you say to this?
How do you travel with someone you have never met? It is clearly an illusion and part of her romantic fantasy. But again, if she wants to prove her case before the media, are we the ones to help her do so? Can’t she go to the airline and get a manifest on how they traveled together? Tell the world her seat number and that of Apostle Suleiman. Let her get those facts and give to the press.
Besides, when a stalker is desperate, he/she can go to any length to get his/her victim’s attention. If you know the itinerary of your target, particularly a preacher whose international meetings are made public, a desperate stalker can go there in attempt to see the person. The truth is that, this is an unnecessary media trial and it is deceitful, mendaciously knavish and full of falsehood.
So, we cannot keep giving this girl this honor of coming to speak to the press and waste people’s time and waste people’s money, just because we want her to entertain the public with falsehood. Sadly, there seems to be a group of people who are well mobilized, from all indications, to ensure that Apostle Suleiman is assumed guilty and stripped of all credibility even before his accuser is able to prove any of her allegations. I fear, the objective of this group is informed by anything but altruism. It’s mischief.
The bank statement showing payments Apostle Suleman allegedly made into her (Stephanie’s) account, was it forged?
I am surprised that you are even referring to the purported bank statement as genuine. Anyone can type and print a statement and call it by any name. But it cannot be called a genuine bank statement, except such a statement has been so verified by a forensic expert under the direction of a court of competent jurisdiction to so do. More so, what we had expected was evidence to buttress her initial claims of tons of dollars, Euros and the Pound Sterling being paid into her account, not the lodgment in a Naira account.
Certainly, this is an afterthought, but it is not strange as Apostle Suleiman engages in a lot of charity. On a daily basis, men and women come for help and he assists them. Was Apostle Johnson Suleiman sleeping with Nollywood Actor, Leo Mezie, when he paid his entire medical bill of £30,000 for kidney transplant in UK? This is what they don’t tell you. Was Apostle Suleiman sleeping with the nine poor Nigerians (male and female) he gave cars to on February 5th, 2016? Was he sleeping with the 30 widows and other indigent people that he gave out millions to start their own businesses? To Johnson Suleiman, giving is a lifestyle.
The fact is that, we have never denied extending help to this girl. What we actually said was that, help was extended to her based on her claimed need and her quest to stop functioning as a stripper in Canada. And there is nothing strange about that. If money was given to her to turn her life around and embrace God, it’s okay. But then, it must be noted that these so -called revelations are only an after-thought. The girl is just busy trying to manufacture weak and unsubstantiated evidence to justify her story.
Fortunately, everything she says contradicts her initial claims, thereby exposing her as a serial liar. The truth is that it’s simply preposterous to want to join issues with her, since it’s so obvious where she’s coming from. So, I don’t want to be dragged into any expanded debate with a Stephanie Otobo. The mother has asked for forgiveness and we have looked into that accordingly. She alone, knows where she is getting her inspiration and or motivation from on this issue . But it will do her well to seek forgiveness from God. Not from Apostle. Because of the import inherent in what she is doing.
The BB chats with the man of God, were they also forged?
Let me clearly state that, Stephanie’s social status in Canada is quite un-dignifying and it will be quite unnecessary to respond to someone who has remained inconsistent in her claims and told a litany of lies. It is sad to say that she does not represent anything positive, either in her private life or the image she is projecting through this controversy. Let me reiterate that Stephanie is a half-baked upstart without any claim to a pedigree and all her claims have fallen like a pack of cards.
She also alleged that money was paid into her account through the Apostle’s pastor in Canada. Could she have made such allegation without facts?
Did she present another bank statement? Stephanie Otobo is certainly struggling with some issues and I think it is right for her to see a psychologist and a psychiatrist to resolve those issues. Because, this is what we call emotional fantasy. A girl who has never met someone; who has no evidence of ever meeting the person, yet claims the person impregnated her? What can she not manufacture?
If she had a shred of fact, you think, she wouldn’t have given it out a long time ago? What fact? Any keen observer of the whole saga will know that she has exhausted herself on lies. We believe in the rule of law and will expose her barefaced lies. For instance, when you check the first video and photos she released, as a graphic designer and expert, you will see the overlay of the photos, which simply showed it was a photoshop creation. Anyway, we are not stupid to allow our evidence in court to be ambushed.
She said only a public apology would assuage the embarrassment the Apostle caused her, and also apology to his congregation. Would you consider this to end the matter?
She threatened to sue Apostle for N500 million for breach of promise to marry. She moved to ask police to investigate Apostle for procurement of illegal abortion. Then she said Apostle should be arrested for threat to life. Now she says all she needs is apology from Apostle and for him to also apologise to his congregation. So what does she really want? Her so -called lawyer, Festus Keyamo, who wrote the letter and threatened to sue, has not done so. Suddenly, he is quiet.
At a stage he caused his staff to issue a statement that he was not involved. But we know that Keyamo and Stephanie are from Sapele. Is it just a mere coincidence? This girl has an undignified social status as well as economic crises or difficulties in Canada. So, whatever she has done or is doing now, is to be expected of people of such status. It’s unfortunate that she and her sponsors thought Apostle was a fertile ground for her to extort money. She wanted to reap where she didn’t sow.
If Apostle Suleiman had something to hide, he would have settled her and would not have involved the police in the first case. And as it is obvious to everyone of us, when she started making unreasonable financial demands, he involved the police who played along, acting as if they were the ones to pay her the money, and that was how she was arrested.
Has this not eroded the confidence the public and members of the church have in Apostle Suleman; has it not affected his reputation and what he stood or stands for?
The church has reached a decision on this matter. And I don’t think there is any need expanding any debate on this. Her mother has come to beg for forgiveness and we have reached a decision on that. The church also knows that this is a lady that deliberately wants to distract Apostle Suleiman from his good works and there is no point giving her attention because till date, she has not brought out any credible evidence that she has been able to hold on to. Everything she has said in the past, she contradicted in her subsequent videos. It’s so unfortunate that she has wasted everybody’s time.
In any case, no man called Apostle Suleiman into ministry. He was ordained by God and his ministry has continued to grow with manifestations of signs and wonders to show that the church belongs to God. Omega Fire Ministries is not a business concern and people do not go there to engage in buying and selling. The church enjoys a divine mandate and that is why the gate of hell cannot prevail against it.
You may wish to know that, Apostle Suleiman, despite the raging controversy recently had crusades in Washington DC, Cyprus, Turkey and Accra and the turnout was overwhelming, as much as the miracles were unprecedented. So, it’s simply preposterous for anyone to imagine that a mere mortal can stop or challenge the work of God.
