•The role of the IGP

By Sam Eyoboka & Caleb Anyasina

AFTER two consecutive visits to the headquarters of the Department of State Services, DSS, Aso Drive, in Abuja, both the primary domestic intelligence agency of Nigeria and the embattled founder of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman, may now be counting their gains and losses. The DSS, like similar outfits responsible for intelligence gathering within the country, which had come under skating criticism after the  midnight  sting operations in the houses of judges, and the recent botched attempted arrest of Suleman in Ado Ekiti, the outfit should be restrategising on how best to engage what it perceives as potential threats to national security.

The Government of the United Kingdom maintains intelligence agencies within several different government departments. The agencies are responsible for collecting and producing foreign and domestic intelligence, providing military intelligence, performing espionage and counter-espionage. Their intelligence assessments contribute to the conduct of the foreign relations of the United Kingdom, maintaining the national security of the United Kingdom, military planning and law enforcement in the United Kingdom.

Mossad short for HaMossad leModi¿in uleTafkidim Meyu%adim, meaning “Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations”), is the national Intelligence agency of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with Aman (military intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal security). Mossad is responsible for intelligence collection, covert operations, and counterterrorism, as well as bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities. Its director reports directly to the Prime Minister.

Whereas the roles of agencies across the globe are defined, it appears DSS is an organization whose activities appear to be open-ended and very often clash with the duties of Nigeria Police Force. Before the attempted arrest of Apostle Suleman in Ado Ekiti, sources told Sunday Vanguard that the Inspector General of Police had struck a deal with the leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, to call the apostle to order.

CAN had already set up a team to meet with Apostle Suleman with a view to finding an amicable way round the issues at stake.

But the Lawal Musa Daura men would rather invade a hotel, laying ambush for the apostle who was, as at then, prosecuting one of his spiritual assignments in Ekiti State and the uproar that attended the botched arrest did not dissuade them from inviting him for questioning.

For the General Overseer and ‘the Oracle’ of Omega Fire Ministries who was born in Benin, Edo State, to a Muslim father and a Christian mother (reports have it that the difference in faith, along with other issues eventually led to the separation of his parents) the central lesson to learn is his un-godly language in the purported recording which has since gone viral. Several provoked men of God have been calling on Christians under any form of attack to defend themselves.

The Life Of Suleman

He was destined to be a preacher: A few days after Suleman was born, some prophets from Warri, Delta State, visited the parents with a prophecy. The prophecy was that he would become a minister.

His mother was a police officer and a disciplinarian.   He revealed this in an interview with Encomium, saying, “My mother laid down the rule that you must be home by  6 pm. If you come home at  7pm, she would open the door for you. Then, she was in the police force.  She would open the door and spray teargas into the room. That’s where you’d be locked up and you’d be battling till the morning to breathe. She was very tough. You can only think of getting out of the room if you can find your way to the door. It was a horrible experience.

“But now, I am happy that I went through that training. She had instilled discipline in us but then I didn’t like my mother. When I went to my father’s house, we were free to do all sorts of corrupt things. As a young Muslim, I finished my Quran and did my Wolima.”

Apostle Suleiman

Life As A Cultist

He once belonged to a cult: According to The Cable, the preacher joined a cult because he was looking for acceptance. In his words, “I was a dignified cultist. I am from a home of separated parents. My parents had some issues. Any child from a home like that is bound to fall into the streets. So, I got into school and I wanted acceptance somewhere. Someone told me that there is something called brotherhood and that I would be accepted as a family member and I liked it. I didn’t know there was a beating part and being taken to the bush.   I didn’t like that. But you have to go into it. What I always avoided then was the assignments. I was just like a floor member. I would go to meetings and when assigned to do something and I couldn’t, I had to look for someone to do it and pay for it. I was not really happy but I was there.”

Hatred For Christianity

Thanks to his father’s influence, the younger Suleman thought all Christians were insincere, thus he disliked the religion.

But he received his calling in 1989. According to him, he had a divine intervention that changed the course of his life. “I went to bed that  December 24, and I woke up on  December 26. I didn’t see Christmas day. I slept all through. In the midst of that, I was seeing hell, heaven and a voice told me that I was going to be a preacher.

I woke up and went to meet a Mallam and he said I should go and do some recitations. But when I went back, I felt beaten,” he said. This eventually led to the establishment of his church in 2004.

In an interview with Sunday Vanguard, he said, “As for the achievements, we have several daily, weekly, monthly, yearly achievements but the greatest of it all is that we have the Most High God with us in all our ways.”

His biggest challenge is the flesh and the devil: He told Sunday Vanguard that “Men of God called to proclaim the Gospel of Christ in truth cannot be separated from having challenges in their various assignments as challenges are part of the call. The general challenge irrespective of the call is the flesh and the devil. If these two things are removed, there won’t be any challenge.”

Apostle Suleman was recently all over the news for telling his security to kill Fulani herdsmen in a video that went viral.

This was what attracted the attention of the DSS. 

CONTRARY to earlier reports that the embattled senior pastor of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman had a smooth passage with the, DSS  on Monday, Sunday Vanguard can now reveal that the ultimate deal was concluded  Tuesday  night when the fiery cleric was eventually left off the hook.

According to our usually credible source, the eventual deal was struck at the DSS headquarters and he was released to the Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in 19 northern states and Abuja, Rev. Yakubu Pam, who accompanied him to the DSS headquarters at about  8.25 p.m.Tuesday  night.

The fiery preacher was part of the reconciliation party that paid a courtesy visit to the Inspector General of Police in his office with several of the IGP’s chiefs after some friction between the security forces and the controversial preacher, who was on the wrong side following some statements perceived to be hate messages, to his adherents.

According to our source, the delegation then left the IGP’s for the DSS headquarters where the DG, Musa Daura, and his operatives took time to assemble all relevant documents including transcripts of the offensive message and an undertaking for both parties to sign to seal the deal.

The source said: “Its all over now and I can tell you here and now that the whole  wahala  is now behind us. It ended a few moments ago and there is no more cause for alarm”, saying, the only thing that delayed the process was the monitoring of the TV videos and the documentation as well as the packaging of an undertaking which was signed by both parties.

Pam hailed the role played by the IGP whose intervention paved the way for the easy settlement of the challenge,   not forgetting to stress the importance for peace in the nation.

“My joy is that the whole thing is now over eventually and all parties will now collaborate to work for the peace and tranquility of the nation,” he said, adding that the Church should also see the need to work in unity.