S-E-X: A mere three –letter word, signifying sweetness and pleasure. Yet at the same time paradoxically spelling pain and the doom of great men.
The history of humanity is replete with men of power and fame, whose fortunes and careers got sacrificed on its altar. Ask the Roman Generals- Pompey and Anthony, who fell from their Olympian heights due to their inability to resist the renowned Egyptian princess and seductress, Cleopatra. Ask Biblical King David, who lost favour in the sight of God, for putting to death Uriah, one of his faithful soldiers fighting to protect his kingdom, all in order to satisfy his lust for the latter’s wife and whom, he eventually put in the family way. Ask the powerful Samson, who ended his life cheaply in the hands of his Philistine enemies for letting out the secrets of his strength on the warm laps of his wily, betraying wife.
Although he managed to get out of the scandal, Bill Clinton, one of America’s most colouful and charismatic presidents, got smeared and almost got booted out of office, for his indiscrete dalliance with Monica Lewinsky, an intern in the White House. Lee Harvey Swaggart, world-renowned American tele-evangelist, was also once reported to have had amorous relationship with sex hawkers, a thing that dented the reputation of the fiery preacher.
The seeming failure of men to conquer their sexual weakness, however, dated back to the origin of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, when, against the divine ordinance and commandment, Adam, took and ate the proverbial ‘forbidden apple’ from Eve.
Some would say, having inherited the ‘Adamic nature’, it is inevitable that sons of men would always toe the same course and yield when faced with amorous temptation. Hence, the strings of sex scandals, especially, those involving eminent personalities.
It has become rare to find men with the discipline of Joseph, who spent term in prison for resisting the seduction of his master’s wife, but was eventually vindicated and honoured with the highest position in Egypt, next to the Emperor, Pharaoh.
The triumph of sex over sense, which has been on from ancient times, has, however, continued to claim more victims.
A few years ago, a blogger and member of Abuja-based Common Wealth of Zion Assembly, Ese Walter, shook the world with her revelation that the presiding pastor of the popular Christian Assembly, Biodun Fatoyinbo, had an affair with her. She claimed that the preacher invited her to his hotel during a visit to London and instructed her to kiss him repeatedly, after which, she found both of them “rolling beneath the sheets.”
A guilt-stricken Walter on return to Nigeria was forced to spill the beans, because, according to her, she no longer felt comfortable when seated in the church, hearing the pastor preach.
Lately, outspoken preacher and Pastor of Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, Apostle Johnson Suleman, is at the centre of a roiling sex scandal involving him and a Canada-based night club stripper and dancer, one Stephanie Otobo.
Otobo, also known as Kimora, had released on the Internet a set of damaging lurid snap chat shots allegedly of herself and the pastor, whom, she claimed, impregnated and dumped her.
Otobo, who said she started a relationship with the preacher sometime in 2015, accused him of lying that he had divorced his wife and would marry her ( Otobo) instead. She claimed that the priest invited her to Europe, where he severally slept with her, after church programmes.
Although Suleman has denied the charge, accusing her of blackmail and being a tool of political persecution, more damning revelations by the girl have further raised questions requiring convincing answers and put him to a hard test as to the definition of the exact relationship between them. With his alleged compromising nude photographs, which have gone viral on the web, the Canada-based stripper, has, as it were, not only bared the pastor’s nakedness, but also stripped him of virtually all public respectability and reverence.
But, the battle between the flesh and the spirit among men of the clergy, sworn to loyal service of the Holy God is not limited to the Pentecostal movement alone.
Just about the time the Suleman-Otobo saga broke out, Saturday Sun uncovered how a horny Catholic Reverend Father in Owerri sexually violated a 17-year-old girl, whom, he lured to his apartment on the pretext to help him carry out domestic chores.
The shocking thing, according to the teenage girl, (now 19), who told the story, was that the priest calmly went to conduct mass shortly after the escapade!
In our cover story, we serve you all the juicy details and critical insights in these stories of clergy sexscapades. Read on:
By VINCENT KALU and Tony Ogaga
Is Apostle Johnson Suleman about to go the way of Lee Harvey Swaggart, Jim Baker and many great men of God who succumbed to the temptation of the flesh?
That is the question on everyone’s lips following shocking allegations that the fiery pastor of Mega Fire Ministries Worldwide, Auchi, Delta State is enmeshed in a sex scandal involving a Nigerian singer based in Canada by the name of Stephanie Otobo (aka Kimora) who was arrested in a sting operation by men of the Nigeria Police Force, Monitoring Unit, Kem Salem House, Obalende, Lagos, while trying to withdraw the money the fiery pastor had paid into her account. Charged to court for blackmail, extortion and terrorism, Kimora was prosecuted before a Chief magistrate at a Lagos court and later granted bail.
However, within hours of obtaining her bail, all hell was let lose as Kimora unleashed compromising photos of her chats with Apostle Suleman, which instantly went viral with Nigerians taking sides.
Allegations, allegations and more allegations
Though he had been in the news lately, nothing prepared Nigerians for the revelation that greeted them when Kimora had posted an online video detailing the pastor’s alleged trysts with her, which included adultery, kinky sex, being impregnated by the pastor and abortion amid promises of a marriage that never happened.
An exasperated Kimora alleged that Apostle Suleman started an affair with her in 2015 after telling her that he was divorced and wanted more male children. Their affair came to a sour end when Stephanie discovered she was pregnant in September 2016 and informed the pastor.
She said she lost the pregnancy after she alleged that she was given a concoction to drink by Suleman.
Petition
The climax was when her counsels, led by Festus Keyamo, petitioned the embattled pastor on March 4, and copied the Inspector-General of Police. In the petition, Kimora alleged that the pastor told her he was divorced from his wife and promised to marry her after meeting with her family for a formal introduction.
Kimora revealed that she abandoned her lucrative career, cars, friends and house in Canada because Suleman promised to buy her a house in Nigeria and came back to the country only to be dumped by the pastor!
In another letter dated March 3, her lawyers demanded N500 million in damages and gave Suleman a seven-day ultimatum to meet her demands.
My hands are clean
In a swift reaction through his media aides, the pastor distanced himself from the arrest, claiming that he had never met Kimora whom he admitted was a prostitute who was a beneficiary of his charity works with the full knowledge of his wife.
Absolving the pastor of any wrong doing, the statement claimed that the lady and her boyfriend had been trying to blackmail him, and the Apostle encouraged them to go ahead and reported the situation to security agents, who eventually arrested her and charged her to court.
On his own, the Pastor had gone on twitter to refute the accusations. Hear him:“They said I did introduction, will I not meet with her family members if I did? The truth of the matter is that she was hired by some people who are unhappy about my ascendancy, to come from Canada for the blackmail.
“They paid her N1.5m to go ahead with the blackmail. She informed her friends about it and one of her friends told my church member. That was how someone was made to tail her and that was how she was arrested.
“The father has been begging me, but there is nothing I can do about it since the case is already being handled by the police,” Apostle Suleman stated over the phone. “She called me in 2016 that she was a prostitute and that she gave her life to Christ during my crusade in Canada. She said she needed help and I said ok.
“I spoke with my wife about her and she said there was no problem. I helped her and gave her money twice, and then this happened.
“I am not giving ladies money again. I may give brothers, but not ladies anymore. Even if I give the brothers now, they may start calling me a homosexual. So, what do I do? Stop doing good?” On twitter he had made a joke of the entire drama when he tweeted that his blackmailers couldn’t even get a beautiful girl.
Meanwhile, a new front in the controversy was opened when Kimora’s father, Benson Otobo, reacted denying his daughter and stating that he knew nothing about the entire drama.
Pastor Suleman’s wife to the rescue
Obviously aware that her husband’s reputation was at stake, his wife of 17 years, Lizzy, reacted as the crisis snowballed, declaring that her husband was not the man in the picture: “I don’t like media appearances, but for the purpose of clarity I have to speak. I have known my husband for the past 19 years and if you are living with a man who is promiscuous you will know. Mrs. Suleman described the purported photos of her husband, published online, as fake, Mrs. Suleman said that her husband’s alleged persecution is the handiwork of the powers that be in the political circles.
Meanwhile, as the Seven-Day ultimatum expired Thursday, Suleman declared that within 24 hours, the truth would be revealed and his enemies put to shame.
However, like the popular saying, no smoke without fire. What truly transpired between them? Commenting, a source who spoke on grounds of anonymity said: “Remember that Apostle Suleman is popular today because of his prophecies which have come true. He predicted that this year, many things will happen which will put him in the public glare. Was this part of the prophecy?”
As the Seven-day ultimatum expired Thursday, the question was, will the pastor overcome this crisis? Will everything go back to the way it used to be again?
Answering the question himself, the pastor said a while ago that his name was synonymous with attacks. He added that in certain situations, only God could defend you. As the drama unfolds, the pastor may have no choice but turn to God for his defence.
Stephanie photoshopped my manhood – Apostle Suleman
‘Apostle’s generosity being used against him’
Embattled pentecostal pastor, Apostle Johnson Suleman has accused his estranged ex-stripper friend, Stephanie Otobo of photo shopping his pictures and that of his manhood into an alleged snap chat conversation they had.
Suleman who spoke through his lawyer, Osa Director, said the Canadian based lady is a blackmailer.
Stephanie, who has been in the news has accused the man of God of having sexual relationship with her, and to buttress her point, she released photographs of snap chat with the pastor, which show the pastor’s manhood erect, while her own breasts were also left bare.
Speaking with Vincent Kalu, on the alleged sexual scandal involving the firebrand pastor, Director, said the pictures were not real, and the manhood couldn’t be that of Apostle Suleman.
Apostle Suleman has been in the eyes of the storm over his recent statement against the killing of Christians in Southern Kaduna, does this alleged sex scandal have any bearing with that?
You can’t rule that out. This is a blackmail orchestrated by a five-member gang, including a serving Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) based in Lagos.
All the meetings took place in the office of this CSP, who also has a link with Apostle Suleman. He connived with this lady, and her boyfriend, Wisdom, who is also based in Canada, and maybe in connivance with some other highly placed people yet to be named, to assume that as this man is still in the eyes of the storm and they were sure that if they make such demand he would not want any controversy at this point in time. And they came up with this grand design to extort N500 million from this man of God.
Apostle Suleman is a principled person, apart from being a man of God; he is a defender of the oppressed; he is a giver and a lover of the poor, but very unbending to blackmail and intimidation. He refused to give them any anything, but when he contacted the statutory body empowered for investigation, which is the police, they advised him to play along, and they set up a sting operation.
All these people, we have them on tape and we are not going to be bandying our evidence in social media and traditional media like newspapers and magazines.
We are thorough professionals, who subscribe to the ethics of the legal profession.
The sting operation was successful at the end of the day, even in one of the encounters, her boyfriend, Wisdom, confessed that they have links with Boko Haram, that if they can unleash terror on the nation, that who then is Apostle Suleman. That he will involve Boko Haram to kill the man of God. This is on record.
That was why when Stephanie Otobo and Wisdom were finally arrested last Friday, contrary to the claims of Festus Keyamo that they were being intimidated, the police picked them up at the bank when they went to collect the money, as they were told that N500 million had been paid into their account.
They are being investigated by the police on their roles in terrorist activities in the country, which is a crime against the state.
So, it is no longer a matter between Apostle Suleman and Stephanie Otobo and Wisdom. It is between the state against the blackmailers- Stephanie, Wisdom and the CSP, who so far in our estimation is the mastermind of this whole scam.
When they were told that money had been paid into her account, didn’t she receive alert before rushing to the bank?
What happened was that they tried to be smart; they wanted the money to be paid at the office of the CSP, the leader of the blackmailers, but the man who led the sting operation got there to pay the money, of course, the CSP being a security officer was very watchful, and kept on phoning Stephanie and Wisdom. According to detectives, a car kept coming to see if he came with people. Apparently, they saw that there might be some danger, they kept the detectives for six hours and eventually they didn’t come for the money.
The next day, they engaged another round of telephone conversation with the sting operator, they wanted a new tactics to collect the money, and they came with the idea that they should meet in a bank to give the impression that it was a transaction done in the bank. The law enforcement agents were on ground to arrest them.
She alleged that Apostle Suleman was paying money into her account, why was he giving her so much money, are there examples of other ladies he has been giving such money, why Stephanie?
Apostle Suleman’s weakest point is that he is a habitual and chronic giver; he has a heart of gold. If he is driving and sees people starving, he would be shedding tears.
I want to make one correction that it is ridiculous and very untenable and a concoction of wicked lies from the pit of hell to say that Apostle Suleman was paying into her account millions of dollars. We challenge them to show the transactions, because it was only on two occasions that he gave money to this lady.
In 2015, she phoned the man of God that she was at his crusade in Canada, and that she enjoyed his ministration and wanted to give her life to God. After probing and discussions, she told him that she was a strip dancer. Apostle told her that it was a sin before God and a charitable way of defining prostitution, which she has to give up before she gives her life to Jesus.
She complained that she didn’t have other means of livelihood if she has to leave that job. He asked her, ‘what can you do?’, she replied that she could open an African restaurant and shop.
Apostle said that he would be of help as usual after consultation with his wife. When he got to Nigeria, he sent some money to her, several months down the line, she called again that being new into the business that she didn’t understand the terrain and so needed to up her stock, and he sent money to her.
The total money sent to her on those two occasions was N1.4 million, at the exchange rate of N150 per dollar then.
After the second transaction, when she continued to call him, the man of God was told that the lady has a terrible lifestyle, which includes blackmailing men. So, even as a man of God he felt that the girl may be an irredeemable prostitute, but as a man of God he believes that God can do all things and he decided to stay clear.
Two years down the line, she is now coming up to capitalise on Apostle Suleman’s recent face off with the DSS, and with the active connivance, if not instigation of the CSP, who is on ground; who also knows Apostle Suleman very well.
If you hear the recording, as the sting operator was negotiating with them, the CSP was always pleading with him to ‘please tell Apostle Suleman to settle this thing; what is N500million to him’, we have him on record.
Stephanie alleged that in a snap chat with the Apostle, she would bring out her boobs, while the man of God also shows his dick, is that the Apostle’s dick?
Who owns the dick? It couldn’t have been the Apostle. This is very unfortunate that in this sophisticated era of information technology, anything is practically possible using computers.
As a lawyer, it is unprofessional to be releasing my legal strategy to the media; it will be at the court of competent jurisdiction.
Even at that, those photographs are nothing but photoshop; imposing the head of Apostle Suleman on another person.
With every sense of responsibility, the Apostle is not a media freak, he doesn’t use headsets, he is not on Facebook and has told his members that they should not respond to anyone that puts him on Facebook, he is not on Whatsapp, he doesn’t do snap chat. It is only recently that he had to open a tweeter handle, which he hardly uses.
So, how is somebody coming up with all these concocted and conjured images of the Apostle?
No one can say for sure that those pictures are real. It is only the law court that will employ a forensic expert to give his opinion on those images and then their conclusion will be the true position.
People can make their opinion and it remains mere opinion, we will have our day in court to show that those images were concocted and conjured.
She alleged that the man of God impregnated her and gave her drinks, which led to the abortion of the fetus, and again that he proposed marriage to her because he needed to have more children. What is your reaction to these allegations?
Apostle Suleman is a public figure with global reach, and everyone knows he has a happy and successful marriage and at no time was the marriage threatened. So, how come the lady didn’t conduct due diligence, on whether the Apostle divorced his wife or not. It is easy to know. It is lie number one.
Number two, they said that Apostle pleaded with her to help him get more male children. But in the interaction with the blackmailers led by the CSP, the sting operation gave out information that made them change their position. He asked the CSP, why do you say Apostle asked her to give him a male child, because as at that 2015, Apostle’s son was over one year old. The CSP couldn’t betray his emotion, as he exclaimed, ‘oh! you don’t mean it; that he has a son’. They went and added that he said he wanted her to give him more male children. He has four daughters and a son. He has called it quit, with the business of child bearing and rearing.
…As both parties fire fresh salvos
There seem to be no end in sight to the long-drawn opera between Apostle Suleman and his alleged former mistress, Stephanie Otobo, as both camps continue to engage in war of words, trading accusations and counter accusations. Friday, March 10, 2017, was another definitive chapter in the feud as the warring duo upped the ante with a long statement coming from the cleric and a press conference held by his alleged ex-lover-turned-adversary.
Apostle Suleman had raised an alarm about a Keyamo Plot to clone his voice in a desperate bid to nail him by all means. A detailed statement released by his communication manager, Phrank Shaibu, had gone for the jugular of Otobo’s counsel, human rights lawyer, Festus Keyamo, alleging him of a scheme to “unveil cloned video clips” of the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries.
“We have it on good authority that some persons have been in a hotel in Lagos where they are daily undergoing voice training and learning how to speak like Apostle Suleman. Others are also recreating scenes and editing video clips to give the impression that our Senior Pastor is involved,” said Shaibu, who urged Nigerians to disregard the ‘counterfeit’ videos when they become public.
The statement also accused “Keyamo and his paymasters” of fine-tuning a ploy to cause harm to Otobo in order to frame Apostle Suleman or implicate his agents, as a last ditch effort. “We are reliably informed that they may kill her or cause severe bodily harm and turn round to say that it is our pastor that did it. We cannot put anything past them at this stage.”
Querying the timing of the so-called scandal shortly after Apostle Suleman spoke against the persecution of Christians in Kaduna, Shaibu suggested the ongoing controversy is a grand conspiracy being pushed by some faceless force. The statement affirmed strongly Suleman’s determination to defend his name and that of the church.
Meanwhile in Lagos, Stephanie Otobo held her first official press conference after her release. She continued her run of the ‘scarlet diary’ on the General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries, whom she described as a serial womaniser.
At the press conference held at the Festus Keyamo Chamber in Anthony Village, the 23-year-old lady reiterated her claim the Apostle told her (after declaring his desire to have her all to himself) she was not his first girlfriend. She further claimed he once gave her 8,000 euros to prove his love for her.
On the accusation of her photo-shopping the picture which so far is her prima facie evidence of her affair with Suleman, she challenged the cleric and her other critics to present the original of the photo she purportedly photo-shopped.
As for her father’s contradictory and deprecating remarks about her, Stephanie Otobo said Revd. Benson Otobo knows little or nothing about her, as he never raised her. On the controversial marriage introduction, she avowed only her mother had seen Apostle Johnson Suleman.
Festus Afeyodion, deputy head of Keyamo Chambers, who represented Festus Keyamo at the press conference, reacted to the Suleman epistle about the safety of their client’s life. He called the threat claim a bunk, avowing Otobo’s life is not threatened by any human rights activist.
Afeyodion affirmed Festus Keyamo Chambers will be contesting Suleman’s request for N1 billion in court on Monday, March 13, 2017.