Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin of the Christ MercyLand Ministry, Sapele in Delta State, has denied allegations that his ministry exploited NAFDAC’s name on its spiritual products to mislead or deceive the public.
Persecondnews recalls that NAFDAC had on Sunday, September 8, issued a public warning regarding the Ministry’s “miracle water and soap,” claiming that the products were falsely attributed to having been approved by the agency.
The agency accused the church of using its name to deceive and mislead unsuspecting individuals.
NAFDAC said it has launched an investigation into Fufeyin’s activities.
In response to the allegations, Ms. Sophia Iloyd, the media arm of Fufeyin’s church, MercyLand Television Deliverance Ministry, released a statement, disputing a recent online article by a national daily titled “NAFDAC Investigating Pastor Jeremiah Miracle Water, Soap-DG” and labelling the report as false and misleading.
The statement emphasized that the ministry is a law-abiding Christian organization that acknowledges and respects the existing laws of the land, including the NAFDAC Act, in its operations as a Christian association.
The statement reads: “We are guided by Sections 39 and 38 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which guarantees all Christians and our Church the right to freedom of religion without interference whatsoever in this regard.
“It is a sequel to that as a church we have been operating and guided by the tenets of our faith and biblical injunctions in the holy bible in this regard. We have been using certain spiritual items in expression of our religious beliefs.”
The statement denied allegations that the church deceived the public by using NAFDAC’s name, clarifying that the church has only exercised its right to religious expression through spiritual items without producing or selling consumable products to the public.
It said: “We also wish to state that Senior Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin of Christ MercyLand Ministry has never used the NAFDAC name as an agency to deceive innocent members of the public.”
It said the only pending petition against the ministry is from Mr. Martins Vincent Otse, who the church has actually sued in the FCT High Court for making false allegations and forging receipts.
The statement added: “However, the church was in receipt of a letter dated the 27th August 2024 from the NAFDAC office extending an invitation to the spiritual head of the church on the church miracle and healing spiritual item by the NAFDAC Asaba Office with the full designation as referenced in this letter.
“It is quite unfortunate that, as a law abiding organization, we did officially, as an organization wrote to the NAFDAC Headquarters office, Abuja, on the short, less than 12-hour time frame given to us to appear and, by an official letter, communicate our position in this matter to NAFDAC and then also sent another subsequent letter to NAFDAC.
“We also bring to the fore and knowledge of NAFDAC that the supposed nominal complainant to NAFDAC Asaba office actually forged the church’s receipts in order to close himself with the right to bring a complaint before the NAFDAC office in this regard.
“We also wish to state that presently there is an ongoing police investigation of certain receipts that has indicted the nominal complainants to the NAFDAC office, which same receipts is presumed to have been forged and used falsely in procuring the now investigated spiritual items by the NAFDAC office.
“The receipts submitted by the complainant to NAFDAC as evidence of spiritual item sales have been found to be falsified, with discrepancies in receipt numbers, particulars, and dates compared to the actual receipts issued by the church.
“The altered dates and inconsistent details reveal that the complainant’s receipts are not authentic, contradicting the official records kept by the church.
“The church addressed these matters and narratives in a letter to the NAFDAC office, yet, to date, NAFDAC has not responded or provided any feedback to the church or its legal representative regarding these issues.”
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