Founder of the Living Faith Church, David Oyedepo, has told members of his congregation to give his phone number to kidnappers if they are abducted, saying such situations would end in their release.
Speaking during a sermon captured in a viral video, the cleric said his involvement in past kidnap cases showed what he described as spiritual authority over such incidents.
“If anybody picks you, give them my number. If he is not cut down, then I’m not sent. You carry the same force if you discover it”, he said.
Oyedepo supported his claim with an account of a church pastor who was abducted and later freed after he spoke with the kidnappers during a ransom call.
He said, “one time, one of our pastors was kidnapped. When they called, I said give me the phone and I told them, in 24 hours if you don’t release him you are dead”.
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According to him, the situation changed immediately after the warning.
“the place was vibrating” following the exchange, he added, noting that the abducted clergyman was released shortly after.
The bishop also cited another incident involving a female church member, who he said regained freedom after invoking his words while in captivity.
“One of our daughters was captured somewhere she told them that ‘my father said I’m getting out of here latest by 7 am’, and the kidnappers started cutting themselves”, he added.