A Port Harcourt based blogger, Young Endy, has challenged claims of spiritual healing of a mentally ill man by members of Salvation Ministries in Ogbunabali area of the city.
The blogger who posted a video of the allegedly healed psychopath roaming the streets and begging for food alleged that the man was used by the church for publicity stunts online without a follow up to confirm the true state of his health after the alleged spiritual healing.
Members of the church had shared the testimony of the healing online earlier January and the news went viral.
The video, which is now viral, has attracted mixed reactions from the public. Many Nigerians have expressed concern over the rate of reported fake healings by religious denominations operating in the country.
Members and fans of the preacher have reigned insults on the blogger threatening to get him arrested and citing a case of a journalist who was arrested for allegedly defaming the general overseer of Salvation ministries, Pastor David Ibiyeomie in 2017.
In 2017, controversial blogger, Kemi Olunloyo was arrested and charged with criminal defamation by Pastor David Ibiyeomie after she published allegations of extramarital affairs between the preacher and a Nollywood actress. She was remanded in the prisons three times during the course of the trial. In January 2018, Kemi appeared on Salvation ministries TV and apologized to the preacher after she was released from prison the third time after spending over 90 days in detention. Her case was withdrawn and all charges dropped afterwards. Kemi now attends the church and promotes activities of the church on her social media platforms.
The ardent blogger, Young Endy, however, seemed unperturbed by the arrest threats by the preacher’s fans. He bosted he was prepared to go to jail if the church could disprove his claims with a video showing that the allegedly healed man was hail and sound.
“My dear Salvation Ministries People, If You can Prove my report is fake, I will personally make myself available for arrest, but if after 48hours you can prove me wrong, I will drop part 2 of my video, “he said in a posted on his Facebook wall.
He stressed that he was not in doubt of God’s potency for healing but was against the church’s inability to ascertain that the man was truly healed before spreading the news on social media.
