Pastor Relocates Church Over Threats After Sex Video
09:00
An embattled cleric, Apostle Chris
Omatsola, who is at the centre of a viral sex video scandal, has
relocated his church over threats that trailed the release of the clip.
Omatsola told PUNCH Metro on Sunday that the new location of his ministry was only known to core members.
This
was after one of our correspondents visited two locations of the church
in the Lekki and Ajah areas of Lagos on Sunday to see the effect of the
incident on members. Nobody was seen at both locations.
PUNCH
Metro had reported that Omatsola, who is the Presiding Pastor of
Zionwealth of Life Assembly, and his former lover, Tamaratokoni Okpe,
had a clash over a sex video, which was leaked on the Internet.
The
two estranged lovers, who allegedly dated for about seven months,
reportedly had sexual intercourse during the fling, which was filmed by
Omatsola.
Shortly after things fell apart between them, the lurid video emerged on the Internet.
Okpe
had accused Omatsola of releasing the video to force her into marriage
with him, while the cleric denied the claim, saying the video was leaked
to blackmail him. He alleged that Okpe demanded N200m from him.
On
a visit to the church locations on Admiralty Way, Lekki, and Bendid
Plaza, Ado Road, Ajah, on Sunday, one of our correspondents noticed that
service did not hold.
Some residents of the areas told one of our correspondents that they did not know anything about the church.
When
PUNCH Metro called Omatsola’s telephone line, a man who picked the call
said the pastor had become depressed by media attacks and public
criticisms, adding that he was not available for comments.
Our correspondent, however, insisted on speaking to the pastor.
When
Omatsola eventually agreed to speak, he said he had relocated his
ministry because he feared for his life and those of his members.
While insisting that he did not leak the video, he added that his only regret was having premarital sex.
He
stated, “A lot of waters have gone under the bridge. We are trying to
protect ourselves from the public, because they have not really been
fair to us. We still have a lot of our people, although this has
affected our ministry grossly. Our church is a ministry. It is an
assembly of young people.
“We have a location where we meet for
now because of what happened; we have been receiving a lot of threats;
some people are saying they want to burn our church. We had to change
the location to a designated place where we meet and we will not share
that with the public, because we don’t want the public; we know our
people.”
Omatsola, who noted that he had apologised to his members, said they knew the truth about the incident.
He added that the incident had affected him psychologically and had helped him to have a better sense of judgment.
“First
of all, I was wrong to have had a sex date with somebody I was supposed
to marry. But this should not be an instrument of blackmail. It’s
really outrageous. My followers know the truth. They know who they are
following,” he added.
Meanwhile, Omatsola has come under heavy attack on Facebook, where he has an account.
Despite the scandal, PUNCH Metro observed that he had continued to post self-authored devotionals on his wall.
On October 21 when the sex video went viral, he asked his followers to pray for him.
“Let
he or she that is without a sin among you be the first to cast a stone.
Friends, pray for the church of God; pray for Zionwealth Church; pray
for #ChrisOmatsola.God bless you. #ApostleChrisOmatsola#IstandwithACO
#ZionwealthChurch #SatanWillNotWin #John8v7,” he wrote.
Three days after, he posted a crying emoticon and asked for forgiveness.
He
said, “One day, Apostle Chris Omatsola will have his last breath, die
and go, but until then, I will keep on pushing cool and steady. Sorry to
everyone that is offended, please forgive and forget. God bless you
all. Shallom.”
But his posts angered his Facebook friends, some of whom posted screenshots of the sex video in the comment section.
One
Esther Jack said, “Imagine the way he is even saying it. ‘Sorry to
everyone, please forgive and forget’. This man is a vicious type. So
unrepentant, uncut (uncouth), pompous and silly. It just ends with
‘forget’ right? When the lady was begging you not to release the nudes,
you were feeling like Captain America.”
Another Facebook user,
Emma Nuel, said, “I wish words can describe how much I hate you. If that
girl were my sister, I swear with my life I would have separated your
head from your body. You devil.”
However, while some friends
urged him to make peace with his creator and move on, others said he
should resign his position in order to have for enough time to reconcile
with God.
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