“The Bloggers Misinterpreted What We Said About OPM Pastor” – Deborah Samuel’s parents

Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere of the Omega Power Ministry, OPM was also present to entertain questions from journalists concerning the warfare of the family

At the press conference which was attended by a Legit.ng reporter, Deborah’s mum said the OPM pastor is taking good care of them

The family of the late Deborah Samuel has said they are not suffering and that Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere is taking good care of them.

Deborah Samuel, a student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto state was slain on May 12, 2022 after being accused of blasphemy.

Following the grief suffered by the family, Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere, the General Overseer of the OPM church who is widely known for helping people, relocated them from Niger state to Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

When the family arrived in Port Harcourt, the OPM pastor gave them a mini-estate, a car, a restaurant and enrolled their children in a free school.

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However, in a recent interview the family granted to the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, FIJ, the family said they are not living well.

Deborah’s father, Emmanuel Garba was quoted to have said:

“People think that we are living well but we are not. OPM took us from where we were in Niger State to Port Harcourt City last year. The OPM pastor gave us a mini estate with about 14 self-contained apartments. After that, OPM rented this bedroom flat for us.”

OPM reacts to interview by Deborah’s family

The story went viral and attracted much attention from Nigerians. To clarify issues, the OPM church called a press conference where Pastor Chibuzor Chinyere personally clarified issues raised in the viral interview.

The pastor made it clear that helping people brings him joy and that the statement from the family made him unhappy. He said he did not abandon them as claimed.

Clarifying issues surrounding the viral interview, the popular pastor said the family was manipulated to say the things they said.

His words:

“They are vulnerable and they are just going through grief. It is wickedness to manipulate somebody to say the things they don’t want to say because you want to be popular and you want to make a name. If you can manipulate these people for them to say they are suffering, somebody that was given an estate and now, because you know how to do your words, you now make the person say things he didn’t want to say, to say he is suffering. God is watching. These people were given an estate of 14-self contain and each one is N100,000.”

The pastor also spoke on the allegation that he only paid one year rent for the house the family occupied upon their arrival in Port Harcourt.

“When I invited them to Port Harcourt, I went to the airport to pick them. When I picked them from the airport, we went straight to the estate. The estate was empty. Considering what they had gone through, it will be wickedness to put them in the estate alone – there were no other tenants. The estate was ready but they couldn’t live there alone. This was the reason I paid one year rent somewhere so that they can have neighbours.

“So when the one year rent expired, somebody went and interviewed them and said they were promised a house but are living in a rented house. As I’m talking to you, now they are living in their estate surrounded by tenants.” He said. 

Also speaking at the press conference, Garba Emmanuel confirmed to journalists that he had collected the sum of N840,000 being rent proceeds for one year from the estate.

Although, he had said in the earlier interview that it took the intervention of the pastor before the money was released by the agent.

“I was misrepresented”, Deborah’s mum says

On her part, Alheri Emmanuel, Deborah’s mother, who also spoke on behalf of the family, told journalists that she was misrepresented in the interview they granted.

She said categorically that the OPM pastor has been of immense help since they arrived in Port Harcourt.

Alheri who spoke through an interpreter, said:

“All those things that those bloggers said, I never said that. Since I arrived in Port Harcourt, there is no day that Daddy (OPM Pastor) has allowed me to go through pain or go through anything. Even though I’m going through pain or anything, immediately I talk to Daddy, everything will be over. Since I came to Port Harcourt, everything that Daddy said, he did all of them for me. So, I’m surprised to find out that an interview that I granted, what the people are saying is different from what I told them.”