The Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (FCIID) of the Nigeria Police Force has detained a blogger/vlogger, Mr. Israel Goodnews Balogun for criticising the founder of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleiman over the cleric’s claim that he commanded angels to deposit money in the bank accounts of some members of his congregation.

Counsel for Balogun, Barrister Inibehe Effiong disclosed this on Wednesday shortly after he accompanied Balogun to the FCIID at Area 10, Garki, Abuja over a petition written against him by Suleman on alleged criminal defamation and cyberstalking.

Balogun, in a video, had debunked the claims made by Suleman that he commanded angels to deposit money in the bank accounts of some worshippers in Auchi, Edo State, and Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

But speaking on the detention of his client, Inibehe said, “Following an invitation by the police, I reported with my client today at the FCIID where we spent nearly ten (10) hours with the investigation team.

My client was admitted to bail late but on very stringent conditions, to wit: that he has to produce a level 14 civil servant or above who should deposit either his last promotion letter or a letter of introduction and a second surety who should have a certificate of occupancy (C of O) or be a businessman with a certificate of incorporation issued by the CAC.

We successfully produced a retired civil servant who also has a C of O and also produced a level 13 civil servant who had a copy of his last promotion letter and his official identity card.

However, the police insisted that the civil servant must give them a letter of introduction in addition to his last promotion letter. On this basis, my client who honoured the invitation without compulsion was thrown into the cell to spend the night.

The human rights lawyer said he had made efforts to ensure the release of his client on Thursday.

He lamented the stringent bail conditions given by the police which he said were usually set for serious offences like murder, kidnapping, and terrorism.

Apostle Suleman is yet to present his miracle money angels. We hope that the police will ask him to do so as part of their investigation since the Nigeria Police Force has deemed the ludicrous claims by Apostle Suleman worth investigating and detaining a citizen for,

he added.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.