The founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, David Oyedepo, has urged his congregation to give abductors his mobile phone number if they are kidnapped by armed bandits. 

Mr Oyedepo, who gave the advice while recounting past kidnappings involving church members, said his interventions had helped secure the release of several victims. 

The cleric spoke in a one-minute, 25-second video that has gone viral on social media. 

“One time, one of our pastors was (carried) abducted by what do you call the ‘kidnappers’. I said, ‘Give him the phone.’ I said, in 24 hours, if you don’t check him out, you are dead.’

“The place was vibrating. On the spot, sir. You don’t know what you’re worth, and you’re begging? It was in my office here, behind you,” Mr Oyedepo said.

According to him, the situation changed immediately after the warning.

He added, “I said, give him the phone. I said this is ‘he,’ in 24 hours, you are dead. If anybody picks you, give them my number. If he’s not cut down, I’m not sent.”

Mr Oyedepo asked his followers to recognise the spiritual authority he described, insisting they should not live in fear.

“What are you talking about? You carry the same force, if you can only discover it. You need to discover what you carry. Redemption is not a religious principle,” he added. 

He also narrated another incident involving a female church member who was reportedly abducted.

“One of those our daughters was captured somewhere. She said, ‘My father said I’m getting out of here latest 7:00 a.m.’ Not that I spoke to them, I didn’t. 

“They didn’t call, they started cutting themselves. Some say she should go. Some say she shouldn’t go. They started cutting themselves, not cutting my daughter, but they were cutting themselves. They said please start going,” Oyedepo added. 

The cleric, however, encouraged his church members to see themselves as being “far above” evil forces, advising that anyone who challenged them would face the consequences.

“Don’t let the devil ride on you. You have been raised far above the devil. If the church does not conquer these devils, God has left heaven. Watch out. Come back to your house as a free being. Anyone who challenges you will pay for it,” he said.