Omega Fire Ministries G.O defends his pastor given 48 hours to leave Zambia
The Senior Pastor and General Overseer of OFM, has issued a warning to the government in response to the ongoing drama.
Zambian Observer reports that Apostle Suleman has accused the country of being threatened by the success of his church.
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He added that this why Zambian authorities are targeting Nigerian owned businesses and removing pastors sent by him.
He said, “If you fight my pastor, you are fighting me. And if you fight me, wait for the results, there will be problems. There will be reactions.”
“It's not the best thing to do. When you do this, you send signals around the world. I am saying this because I know they are watching me. There are people you touch and things will just spoil.”
Pastor Ebosele knows why he is being deported
He believes that he was given this 48-hour ultimatum because he refused to pay a K30 000 bribe, Lusaka Times reports.
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He explains that a particular senior official from the Ministry of Religious National Guidance had made it his mission to deport pastor after the cleric refused to pay the bribe. This happened as he was trying to renew his immigration documents.
Pastor Ebosele adds that former expelled members had also lied to the ministry about him because these people were working with certain government officials in order to take over his church in his absence.
In his words, “I got a call from one man from Religious Affairs. This man can call thirty times in one minute, I don’t know how much they gave him. I went to the office to see him at his office, where he accused me of a lot and lots of things.
“From there he told me that I needed to cooperate with him because my deportation order is already on his table. He said if I don’t cooperate he would have me deported and I should give him K30, 000, to which I questioned whether it was his ministry that deported people.”
Reportedly, the pastor’s story has been confirmed by the Omega Fire Ministries administrator, Lackson Mwanza. Speaking with the Daily Nation, Mwanza added that the pastor is still in the custody of the police.
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What the government is saying
Pulse Religion reached out to the Public Unit of the immigration office in Zambia to confirm or deny this story.
They responded with a press release titled ‘Immigration Arrests Forty-Eight (48).’
It read, “The Department between Monday, 30th October 2017 and Thursday, 2nd November 2017 arrested a total of forty-eight (48) persons for various immigration offences, countrywide.
“…During this period, the Department also effected one (01) deportation and removed twelve (12) illegal immigrants from the country. Mr Augustine Oso Ebosele (38) a Nigerian Head Pastor of Omega Fire Ministries, a Pentecostal Church located at Plot 18884/M Woodlands, Lusaka was deported on Thursday, 2nd November 2017 via Kenneth Kaunda International Airport. He was deported because there were reasonable grounds to believe that his presence in Zambia was likely to be a danger to peace and good order.
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“On Tuesday, 31st October 2017, Mr Augustine Oso Ebosele was taken into custody after he refused to comply with Immigration Officers at his residence in Ibex Hill. His Nigerian wife and two Zambians were also apprehended and detained for obstructing the officers in the execution of duty. They have since been released after being warned about their future conduct…”
This press release goes with Chief Government Spokesperson, Kampamba Mulenga‘s initial statement on Thursday, November 2, 2017.
Mulenga also responded to Apostle Suleman’s accusation that the Zambian government is against Nigerians.
She said, “Omega Fire Ministries Headquartered in Nigeria is free to send a senior pastor to come and help reconcile the membership in Lusaka.”
The spokesman added that the pastor's 48 hours quit notice is according to the Immigration and Deportation Act number 18 of 2010.
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