Zambian government forcefully deports one of Apostle Suleman's pastors

Apostle Suleman, general overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries, has allegedly lashed out at Zambian authorities following the deportation of one of his pastors, Austine Obosele, and the detaining of his pregnant wife and another senior church member who were accused of blocking his deportation. 

According to reports, some men of the Zambian police and immigration service stormed Obosele's house on October 31, 2017, and after accusing him of continuing to stay in the country even after his employment permit had expired, whisked him away to be deported. 

While speaking to the Zambian press, Obosele claimed he was attacked by the officials because he had refused to part with a bribe. He claimed he had tried to renew his documentation but was blocked at every turn by a senior official of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and National Guidance (MRANG), who vowed to see him deported for refusing to pay K30,000. 


 Obosele also accused some expelled members of the church of joining forces with the Zambian officials, in a bid to take over the church's funds and properties after he is deported. He made the accusations because according to him, some of the former members had told lies to the MRANG who didn't find anything against him when they investigated. 

 “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, there 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."


Reacting to the attack on Obosele, Apostle Suleman allegedly released a statement accusing the Zambian government of always deporting foreigners years after they must have started and grown big investments, just so that Zambians can take over. 

He said that Nigerians are Zambia's biggest investors and sent out a warning that if Zambia continues doing such to foreigners, investors will be left with no choice but to stop coming to their country. He added that his church in Zambia had grown so big that the state now chose to fight it. 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.”