Comments on Fulani herdsmen: Fayose foils DSS plan to arrest Apostle Suleiman in Ado-Ekiti, says ‘let them kill two of us together’

Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Mr Ayodele Fayose, in the early morning of Wednesday, foiled an attempt by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) from arresting Apostle Johnson Suleiman of The Omega
Fire Ministries Worldwide in Ado-Ekiti.
The firebrand Pastor was alleged to have been preaching against Islamising  Nigeria and asked members of his church in Auchi, Edo State to resist killings by suspected Fulani herdsmen, who he alleged of targeting Christians for decimation.
The Pastor, who was in Ado Ekiti for a two-day crusade that was also attended by Fayose, was trailed after paying a courtesy visit to the governor at the Government House, to his hotel room by the DSS operatives in Adebayo area of the state capital.
The operatives wanted to force their way to his room but were resisted by security men of the hotel who insisted to know their mission.
Sensing danger, the Pastor was alerted and he called
Fayose who personally led a rescue mission to prevent the abduction of the Pastor and took him to the Government House.
Apostle Suleiman, who narrated his ordeal around 2 am said: “I came to Ado-Ekiti for a crusade. But I had a premonition that I was being trailed after I preached that Christians should retaliate any attack or killings by the Fulani herdsmen. These Fulani headmen had turned many Christians to orphans and widowers but the time has come to protect ourselves.
“I received several calls from hidden numbers trying to locate where I am and I had warned my security not to allow any Fulani man to come near me. So, when the men of DSS came in the middle of the night, I knew their mission and I had to call the governor because if they arrest me, they will put this country in fire”.
Fayose, who expressed surprise that a man of God was being
trailed to be arrested by DSS operatives, said he expected the
security agents to invite him “if they have any issue with him
instead of arresting him in the dead of the night after a powerful and spirit-filled crusade in my state”.
The governor said: “I personally attended his crusade and I think it is wrong for a man of God, who is armless that could be invited if they have any issue against him, to be trailed like that, just for speaking the truth. Are Christians and Muslims under different dispensation of the rule of law? That’s why I went there to rescue him. Let them kill two of us together. But when they saw my vehicles and the crowd, they fled.
“But we have information that instructions came from DSS in Abuja that the Pastor should be arrested. We are not in a fascist state, Federal Government must learn to respect the rights of Nigerians and freedom of expression”.
Fayose noted that it was unbecoming of the Federal Government to be harassing clerics in the country, noting that the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, was harassed and forced to resign shortly after he visited him in Ado-Ekiti.
He said: “This is unacceptable, We are in a democracy and Nigerians should warn the Presidency against putting this country on fire because religion is an emotional thing”.
The governor also warned security operatives against intimidation and arrest of men of God in the interest of peace and religious harmony in the country, saying “the constitution guarantees freedom of worship”.