Watch your tongue, DSS warns Apostle Suleman

The Department of State Services has asked
the General Overseer, Omega Fire
Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman, to
stop granting interviews.
The cleric was directed to watch his tongue
because of the importance attached to his
messages by his followers.
A security source at the DSS told The
PUNCH that Suleiman 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 pastor was quizzed by the DSS on
Monday in Abuja over his alleged sermon
asking his followers to kill any herdsmen
found within his church premises.
During his interrogation by the DSS, on
Monday night, however, Suleiman, who
was accompanied by a former governor,
was said to have been told that some
unsuspecting Nigerians could cash in on
his messages to cause havoc in the country.
The source stated,

“We asked him why
he made such a
provocative statement
and he defended
himself.
“He (Suleiman) 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, who spoke on “strict
confidence”, said both parties also agreed
not to speak with the media on the
outcome of the interrogation.
“None of us would
speak on the issue. We
need to douse tension
in the country. That’s
our agreement,” the
source added.
In order to avoid further controversies, he
explained that this was one of the reasons
why the DSS asked Suleman to postpone
his coming for interrogation from 10am to
8pm.
“We needed to
manage the crisis and
the crowd. That was
one of the reasons we
agreed that his coming
should be devoid of
any razzmatazz and
long convoy,” the
source added.
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.
The source confirmed that the cleric was
told to be cautious of his words because he
had a large audience, including both
Christians and Muslims, who watched his
satellite channel, Celebration TV.
“The DSS categorically
told him that there is
the tendency for his
followers to
misinterpret him
while mischief makers
could, at the same
time, capitalise on it to
cause crisis in the
country,” he added.
Alabatvnews.