2023 election prophecies: Pastor, wife arrested at Abuja airport by DSS, flee Nigeria after release

Founder of the United Kingdom-based, RIG Nation and Pioneer Church, Prophet Tomi Arayomi, has announced fleeing the country along with his wife following their arrest and 24-hour detention by the Department of State Security (DSS) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, on arrival from London.

Prophet Arayomi who continues to maintain ignorance of his alleged crimes, said he and his wife, along with their aide were picked up in a clandestine operation by unidentified men, who later turned out to be operatives of the DSS, to an unknown location, which, according to him, was the office of the agency.

According to the cleric, up until when he was released along with his wife, nobody has told him his offence, but that his aide is still in custody of the DSS.

Narrating his ordeal via his social media platform, Saturday, the cleric disclosed that he has decided to leave Nigeria for his safety, adding that he was temporarily returning back to the UK with his wife, while he awaits his aide.

Prophet said he will remain in the UK for his safety after his ordeal with the DSS with his family until a ‘better Nigeria’ dawned.

Arayomi and his wife Tahmar, who are both British citizens, it will be recalled, were on Good Friday arrested alongside their aide, Emmanuel Ezerika, by the DSS for allegedly giving ‘inciting prophecies’ years before the 2023 elections.

They were both later freed on Friday night but their aide remains in the custody of the security operatives.

“Prophetess Tahmar and I would like to express our gratitude for all your prayers and international support during Friday’s ordeal with the DSS.

“We can confirm that on Good Friday, April 7, we arrived in Abuja to visit one of our branches when we were picked up by about six armed agents who did not identify themselves as DSS or any law enforcement agency.

“My wife, myself and my aide, Emmanuel Ezerika, were forced to surrender our mobile phones and enter the vehicles where we were taken at considerable speed to what we later learned were DSS HQ.

“The officers, some of who wore balaclavas, were not immediately recognisable as DSS.

“Our pictures were taken, fingerprints and data collected and we were locked inside a room with no real knowledge as to the grounds for our arrest.

“After a lengthy interrogation, it appears media and social media pressure forced the DSS to release my wife and me.

“My aide still remains in DSS custody and thus far, the DSS has been elusive as to his exact whereabouts.

“We will not divulge the particulars of the investigation at this point as we are still awaiting the safe release of my aide,” he noted.

“Out of concern for my young children and my wife’s well-being, we made the unfortunate decision to leave Nigeria abruptly.

“This decision did not come lightly but with considerable prayer and counsel from our board, trustees, colleagues in the ministry and respective families.

“I can confirm that we are safe and will continue to work and pray for a new Nigeria.

“We remain resolute that we will return to the nation that we have grown to call our home but for now, we will continue to press, pray and give God no rest until Nigeria becomes a praise on the earth.

“We did not come to Nigeria under any illusion of comfort. We came to serve the Lord, fully aware of the danger.

“We want you to know that Tahmar and I remain strong and unwavering in our commitment to Nigeria and the many great leaders we have encountered during our time there.

“We want to thank every leader and friend who reached out, called, texted, and posted.

“We are so grateful. This is not goodbye. This sees you soon in a new and better Nigeria,” the prophet stated.

It would be recalled that Arayomi had shared prophecies about the 2023 elections back in 2021 where he spoke of ‘a man to come from the East.’

“A challenger shall arise and one who fears my name shall spring up.. i will induce your Labour and elect a man from among you who is already among you…” the prophecy went.

He urged Nigerians to vote for an ‘outsider,’ noting that the 2023 electoral process will first produce Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as president-elect.

Arayomi’s ordeal at the nahds of the DSS was blown open on Friday when his twin brother, Tobi raised the alarm via his Instagram page (@tobiarayomi), around 12 pm, Friday, over his sibling’s whereabout.

According to Tobi, his twin brother, Prophet Arayomi was apprehended by operatives of the DSS for alleged politics-related prophecies he made.

“Hello everybody, I need your help. I just received news that my brother has been detained by the Department of State Services, DSS in Nigeria. He has been arrested for political reasons, my brother and his wife, Tema.

“He just arrived in Lagos and they detained him at the airport. He is politically targeted because some of his prophetic words have troubled the government in Nigeria,” Tobi said.

DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunnaya, refused to confirm or deny the cleric’s arrest.

“Why don’t you call the Pastor, pls,” Afunnaya responded.

Pastor Tomi was in Nigeria for a programme at his church branch in Abuja on April 7.