Founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, David Oyedepo, has instructed members of his congregation to provide his phone number to kidnappers in the event of abduction, saying he possesses the spiritual authority to secure their release.
He made the remarks during a recent service at the church’s Canaanland headquarters in Ota, Ogun State, in a sermon clip that has since circulated online.
Speaking to congregants, Oyedepo said: “If anybody picks you, give them my number, give them my number.”
He further cited what he described as previous instances of divine intervention involving kidnapped church members.
Recounting one of the cases, he said: “One time, one of our pastors was carried by, what do you call them, kidnappers. I said, give them the phone. I said, in 24 hours, if you don’t take him out, you are dead. The place was vibrating. On the spot.”
In another account involving a female church member, he said: “She said, ‘My father said, I’m getting out of here latest by 7 a.m.’ They didn’t call. They started cutting themselves. She said, ‘My father said, I’m getting out of here latest by 7 a.m.’ They didn’t call. They started cutting themselves.”
Oyedepo also urged members of his church to recognise what he described as their spiritual authority, stating: “You have been raised far above the devil. If the church does not conquer these devils, God has left heaven.”
The sermon has continued to generate widespread reactions following its circulation on social media.