The cleric who demanded security protection for him and his family claimed that he had not been able to sleep in his house for two weeks “because Olukoya is after my life”.
Pastor Sunday Bawura Olowoyeye, a former Pastor of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), has raised the alarm over an alleged threat to life by the General Overseer of the church, Dr. Daniel Olukoya.
The cleric who demanded security protection for him and his family claimed that he had not been able to sleep in his house for two weeks “because Olukoya is after my life”.
Olowoyeye said he joined MFM in 1993 and became a pastor of the church in 1995. According to him, he was posted to different states to serve till 2021 when he left the church due to the way they “neglected him and his family when his wife was critically ill”.
Olowoyeye said when his wife was ill, he sought help from the church but no one was ready to assist him.
The pastor told SaharaReporters that when he confronted them that what they did was not good, they gave him a sack letter that his service was no longer needed in the church.
He said, "My name is Mr Sunday Bawura Olowoyeye, I joined MFM in 1993 and left in 2021. I became a pastor of the church in 1995 then I was posted to Owo in Ondo state from 1995 to 1998.
"In 1997, I was sent to Ado Ekiti and I was there for 6 months. After that, I was sent back to Ondo State to continue my work. From there, I was posted to Osogbo in early January 1998. And I was sent to Edo State in 2000, and from there to Lagos State.
"I was returned to Edo in Uromi again for 6 months to open a church, before going back to Ondo State again where I worked for three and half years before I was sent back to Lagos State where I worked for three years.
"I left the church in 2021 due to the way they neglected me and my family when my wife was critically ill. It was not my joy to leave but my wife was sick and I asked for help from the church but no one was ready to help me.
“I confronted them that what they did was not good then they gave me a sack letter saying my service was no longer needed in the church.
"I asked them to give me all the money I paid into the cooperative account to at least pay part of my wife’s hospital bills but they refused. In my frustration and desperation for my wife’s treatment, I approached a blogger (Maureen Badejo) to help me call the MFM church out and also expose the oppression and wickedness going on there.
"After my appearance on Maureen’s show, I was abducted at my bus stop in Masha, Surulere by four policemen in mufti who bundled me to Alagbon at gunpoint. This was on the 28th of May 2021. I was beaten and handcuffed to Alagbon where I spent two weeks of horrible treatments.
"My beating and torture were supervised by one Inspector who also heads a department in MFM headquarters. They asked me to do a video debunking all I said on Maureen’s show but I refused. This angered them the more and they seriously dealt with me and tortured me for two weeks.
"My family members were denied access to me. This traumatized my wife who was already very sick. My dad’s BP also went up and he was admitted to the hospital. At the end of the day, I was made to do three videos under duress in one of the offices in Alagbon with police officers pointing guns at me.
"They told me to debunk all I said and that Maureen is an agent of darkness who manipulated me to lie against Dr D.K. Olukoya and MFM church. They also asked me to praise Olukoya and tell the world that he is a true man of God. I said all these in the videos under duress.
"The videos were immediately released on social media and I was released from prison. The Inspector gave me N300,000 to go and treat myself in the hospital because I became very sick and traumatized in detention. I tried to move on with my life but it’s been very tough for me and my family.
"I lost the accommodation Maureen gave me when I became homeless because I spoke against her on social media as directed by the Inspector and other police officers. I became depressed and at one point, I became suicidal too. My wife’s sickness persisted and I lost everything!
"I was called again by one of them recently telling me that I was giving Mrs Funke Ashekun information about Olukoya and MFM church because Ashekun had been exposing Dr Olukoya’s atrocities in MFM church in the last two years. They claimed that they saw my comment in one of her recent posts.
"I told them I had never spoken to Funke Ashekun to give her any information about MFM. I’ve been receiving constant threats since then. I had to run away from home.
"Please, I want the government to come to my aid and protect me from Olukoya and his agents. They’ve refused to leave me alone. I also want to get justice for my unlawful arrest and torture in Alagbon for two horrific weeks.
"Also, my money contributed while I was part of the church cooperative should be given to me at least. I wasn’t paid any gratuity, just a sack letter. For the past two weeks, I can’t sleep in my house because they are after my life. I need justice and protection!”
DSP Oluniyi Ogundeyi, the spokesperson for the Force-Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Lagos Annex, Alagbon, told SaharaReporters that Olowoyeye’s allegations were unfounded.
"I don't know anything about it and I’m not aware of such. The story is unfounded. If he has anything, why has he not come up since 2021? It is not in the place of any policewoman in Force CID, not even a policeman to carry a gun.
"The etiquette of our profession as CID does not allow you to carry a gun when we are going for arrest or inviting suspects, let alone torture people. We don't have torture rooms; we only have offices where we listen to people.
"We uphold strictly every fundamental human right. If anybody is detained in our office for more than two days, maybe it’s at the discretion of the court. And no civilian can use anybody at CID."
The spokesman for the MFM, Mr Collins Edomaruse couldn't be reached as his phone number had not been available for days.
However, twice when SaharaReporters reached out to him for comments regarding allegations of intimidation of former church members by Pastor Olukoya, he simply said, “This has nothing to do with the church and we have nothing to say. Thank you.”
In August, SaharaReporters reported that Ayotunde Richard, a gospel singer and former member of the church raised an alarm, alleging that Olukoya, was after his life.
In a viral video obtained by SaharaReporters, the man is seen calling on the Acting Inspector General Police to help him investigate how Olukoya got access to his phones which were collected from him (Ayotunde) by a police officer, Supo Ayoleyi at Force Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Lagos Annex, Alagbon while he was detained there.
In July, a gospel singer, Adebayo Bolanle also reportedly went into hiding after receiving threats from the General Overseer of the church, Olukoya for allegedly calling him 'Maradona'.
In a leaked phone conversation obtained by SaharaReporters, Olukoya threatened to initiate the arrest of Bolanle for the comments she allegedly made against him.
Later, a family source told SaharaReporters that Bolanle went into hiding immediately after the phone conversation with the popular cleric, especially considering the plight of a former member of the church, Ayotunde Richard, who was detained for a week by the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Lagos.