Pastor David Ibiyeomie was approached by Nigerian internet activist Marins Vincent Otse, also known as Verydarkman, after he threatened to imprison bloggers who wrote against him and his church.
Videos of the spiritual leader of Salvation Ministries admonishing bloggers and internet critics not to post anything about him before went viral.
The cleric provided other examples of past cases and warned that anyone who attempted to criticize his ministry would be arrested.
Using social media, Verydarkman attacked the pastor for trying to brag about his imprisonment.
In a scathing video response, Verydarkman did not hold back as he accused the well-known pastor of trying to abuse his power and the Nigerian police to stifle free expression. He challenged the preacher to arrest anyone for even discussing him online.
In his words: “I know you travel around the world, have you seen anybody using police to lock up people? That means you are using your influence now to say that you can use the police to oppress. You can’t try this in other countries because those police would do their investigations. You cannot command police to do anything whether you are influential or not. That is why I say even the pastors follow spoil the country, but people don’t understand what I was saying. Nobody dey fear you. Who are you that we will fear, are you not a human being?”
Meanwhile, Deji Adeyanju, who also serves as the lawyer to controversial social media personality, VeryDarkMan has joined the train of social media users to criticize the outrageous remarks from Pastor and founder of Salvation Ministries, where he warned In a viral video, that he was going to arrest anyone who post “negative” or “twisted” versions of his sermons online, warning them to stay off his case or face dire consequences.
Many accusing him of acting contrary to the teachings of Christ. Among those who strongly condemned the preacher was Reacting on X (formerly Twitter), Adeyanju had this to say:
“I’m so disappointed in Papa David Ibiyeomie warning and threatening Nigerians not to talk or criticize him or his church else he will lock them up. Who are you sir that people can’t talk about your church or criticize you? People criticized Jesus and He did not lock them up.”
The activist also added that the pastor was using intimidation and fear to quell criticism and dissent.