Delta State-based church, Christ Mercy Land Deliverance Ministries, has responded to recent allegations by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
NAFDAC announced on Sunday that it is investigating the church over its wide-ranging “miracle” products sold to the public after receiving a petition from concerned citizens regarding its activities.
The agency claims that its name has been used by the church and its pastor, Jeremiah Omoto, to deceive unsuspecting members of the public by falsely claiming that its products, including “miracle soap and water,” are registered with NAFDAC.
NAFDAC Headquarters, Abuja
The Church reacts
Meanwhile, the church in a statement posted by Mr Omoto on its Facebook page, noted that the ministry is a law-abiding institution guided by the Nigerian constitution and that its spiritual products are part of religious beliefs.
“As a Christian association, 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 any interference in this regard.
“As a church, we have acted and been guided by the principles of our faith and the biblical precepts of the Holy Bible in this regard. We have used certain spiritual elements to express our religious beliefs,” the church said.
The church noted that its pastor, Mr Omoto, has never used the name of NAFDAC to deceive innocent members of the public, describing such claims as “purely unfounded in facts and narratives.”
Article page with promotion of financial support
Petition, false receipts
The church said the only petition filed against it was that of Martins Otse, popularly known as Verydarkblackman, who denounced the church for allegedly deceiving people with “miracle soap and water.”
Very dark black man
The church said it has since sued Mr Otse before the FCT High Court over various allegations and matters.
Upon the invitation of NAFDAC, the church said: “As a law-abiding organisation, we officially wrote to the NAFDAC Head Office in Abuja on the short notice of less than 12 hours given to us to appear and through an official letter we communicated our position on this matter to NAFDAC and then we also sent another subsequent letter to NAFDAC.”
He added that his Head of Administration, Oguluoa Fufeyin, the church's contractor in question, Globod Table Water, and their legal representatives honoured the invitation of NAFDAC on September 2 at its head office in Asaba.
The church also claimed that: “The alleged nominal complainant at the NAFDAC office in Asaba falsified the Church receipts to arrogate to himself the right to lodge a complaint with the NAFDAC office in this regard.
“We also wish to state that there is currently an ongoing police investigation into certain receipts that have led the nominal complainants to the NAFDAC office, and it is alleged that the said receipts were forged and falsely used to obtain the spiritual items now under investigation by the NAFDAC office.”
NAFDAC Investigation
As part of its investigation, NAFDAC said it had “sealed Globod table water factory for aiding and abetting the production, sale and advertising of unregistered and harmful miracle water under the guise of a fake NAFDAC registration number.”
In a statement on Sunday signed by its Director General, Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC said none of the products advertised and sold are registered with the agency as claimed by Mr Omoto.
It therefore advised the public to stop purchasing any of the products while it continued to investigate the organisation's activities with regard to the products reportedly manufactured and sold by it.