Benjamin Omoike l Thursday, March 16, 2017
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – Convener of the nonprofit organisation, Christians In Politics Initiative (CIPI), Rev. Isaac Ojo-Eleka, has condemned the ongoing saga involving Apostle John Suleiman, describing it as both physical and spiritual attack on a Man of God.
The clergyman, who, along with other top officials of the group, namely: Pastor Dele Bamishile, Bishop Aro Lambo and Pastor Adebayo Israel, addressed a cross section of journalists on Thursday at the office of the Nigerian Union of Journalists in Ikeja, said such unfortunate attacks could also be regarded as an attack against God.
He said the first time he took note of Apostle Suleiman was when he told his Church members not to fold their arms but to fight back, if and when Fulani Herdsmen attacked them. He said it was possible that Suleiman might have been emotional when he spoke to his congregation, largely due to the excesses of the herdsmen across the length and breadth of the country, but that this did not justify the attacks against him.
“Our observation in CIPI is that the Apostle’s travails started with that outburst. Remember he was almost waylaid in Ado-Ekiti when he went for a crusade, by people who were supposed to be DSS officials, before he was thereafter officially invited to the DSS headquarters, where the issues were resolved
“It was now after this that a wave of sexual allegations flooded the media against Apostle Suleiman. It is now as if his traducers are saying, for daring yo speak against Fulani Herdsmen, we will show you the stuff we are made of. Why are all these accusations coming up now? When did Suleiman renege on his promise to marry Ms Stephanie Otobo and why didn’t she complain then?”
“This is nothing short of both physical and spiritual gang-up against a Man-of-God, and by extension, against God. The Bible in Isaiah 54:15, says, ‘behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake’.
“It is very sad to note that Nigeria is a country where the citizens relish in blackmail. We recall that in the build up to the 2015 elections, documentaries and countered documentaries were flying around all over the place, so much that people became confused and we didn’t know what to believe again. On thing is sure, nobody can defeat God in a duel,” he said.
Rev. Ojo-Eleka said it was sad that nobody remembered the good deeds of Apostle Suleiman any longer, how he wrote off the bill for the kidney transplant for a Nollywood artist, Leo Mezie and how he also bought him a car, among other humanitarian gestures.
He recalled that only recently, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode said the same people who killed General Aziza and Governor Yakowa, were the same people after Apostle Suleiman. Adding that some of the allegations of Ms Otobo, especially regarding the marriage proposal by Suleiman had been denied by her father, thereby nullifying her claims.
On the said ‘Queen Esther’, who also claims that the embattled Apostle had sexual relations with her and her purported stand of choosing to maintain anonymity unless the Kaduna State Government could guarantee her safety, he said this left a lot to be desired, wondering what the connection of the Kaduna State Government was in the matter.
He admonished Apostle Suleiman to hand over the battle to God, who has promised to execute vengeance on behalf of His children. He equally appealed to the Church not to be passive at this time but to rise up with one voice against this affront against one of their own.
