The family of the late Deborah Samuel has rejected accusations that Omega Power Ministries’ General Overseer, Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere, abandoned them despite his prior pledge to leave them an estate.
Deborah, a 200-level Home Economics student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, was brutally murdered by her classmates for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
13 months after her death and the subsequent relocation of the family to Port Harcourt by Apostle Chinyere, media reports alleged that Deborah’s family was harassed by their landlord to renew their rent or leave because it was a rental flat rather than the gifted estate as promised by the clergy.
However, The Guardian discovered that when the OPM founder relocated the family, the 14 units micro estate promised to them had not yet been finished.
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The clergy were forced to relocate Deborah’s family to a leased apartment while construction work on their gifted estate continued. A recent visit to their permanent abode in Omokiri community, Aluu Ikwerre Local Council, Rivers State revealed that the mini estate of 14 self-contained flats had been built and the family had moved in.
Deborah’s mother was observed cleaning the modestly equipped apartments. Deborah’s mother, who could not articulate adequately in English, said through an interpreter that it was not true that the OPM founder had abandoned them.
People, she claims, have been spreading false allegations about the family in order to deter the General Overseer of the OPM from supporting people. She further stated that they have no issues with the founder of OPM, adding that it was the clergy who relocated them to the estate after their lease expired.
Deborah’s father, Emmanuel Samuel, who was invited to the altar in church alongside his daughter by the OPM pastor, denied that the landlord was pestering them.
According to Samuel, he has received all of the documentation for the 14 flats. “I have all the documents and keys to the estate now, and we have moved in,” he said. “Daddy has given us everything, and we are grateful.”
When asked about the incident, Apostle Chineyere said that he rented an apartment for the family because the estate he promised them wasn’t ready when they relocated to Port Harcourt.
The pastor blamed the incorrect information on the family’s media interpreter, who could not communicate adequately in English. He chastised the media for failing to verify the information they received from the interpreter before publishing it.
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The monk also accused the lawyer he hired to oversee the estate of leaving the country without properly advising the family or giving over their housing documents.
The pastor explained to his church members, “Deborah’s family is good, but the people who interpreted for them misinterpreted the whole thing.”
“When I moved them to Port Harcourt, I hired a lawyer to manage the estate and collect rents for them, but the lawyer made a mistake by leaving without handing over the documents to their permanent residence.” I told him to give the keys and documentation to the family, and they now have the keys.
“They are now residing in the estate.” The estate was not ready when I moved them from Niger State to Port Harcourt. So I put them somewhere where they will be able to move in before their lease expires. We completed the estate, the rent has expired, and they have now moved into the estate.”