Pastor Abel Damina has publicly challenged Apostle Arome Osayi over his account of a supernatural encounter in which he claimed Jesus Christ appeared to him and spent hours lamenting about the state of the Nigerian church.
Damina addressed the controversy during a church service on Thursday, October 8, 2026, after receiving numerous messages from followers asking him to respond to the apostle’s viral testimonies.
Rather than address the messages individually, the cleric chose to speak about the matter from the pulpit, questioning the credibility of some of Arome’s reported spiritual experiences.
What Arome Said About His Encounter With Jesus
Arome had reportedly told his congregation that Jesus appeared to him during a nine-hour flight from Johannesburg to London.
According to the account, Jesus spent the journey crying and expressing sorrow over how Nigerian church leaders had allegedly wasted the spiritual investments he had made in them.
The apostle also reportedly recounted another encounter in Tanzania, during which Jesus allegedly instructed him to send ₦5 million to a particular pastor to receive the power to raise the dead and reverse autism.
These accounts have generated debate on social media, with some people defending the preacher’s testimonies while others have questioned their biblical basis.
Damina Raises Questions About the Stories
In his response, Damina challenged the reported instruction involving the ₦5 million, referring to Matthew 10:5–8, where Jesus instructed his disciples to heal the sick and raise the dead without charging for those acts.
He also questioned what he described as inconsistencies in some of Arome’s other testimonies, including accounts involving angels searching for people marked with particular colours on their foreheads.
Damina argued that Christian ministers should be willing to have their teachings examined against Scripture, rather than relying primarily on personal supernatural experiences to establish their authority.
Emphasising his position, the pastor said:
“The gospel is not experiences. The gospel is not visions and dreams. The gospel is not my stories. The gospel is his story.”
He referenced 2 Corinthians 4 to support his argument that Christian preaching should focus on Jesus Christ rather than the personal experiences of individual ministers.
Online Debate Intensifies
The exchange has added to the growing public debate surrounding Arome’s teachings, with social media users expressing different views about his accounts of supernatural encounters.
While some have questioned the details of the testimonies, others have defended the apostle and argued that personal spiritual experiences should not automatically be dismissed.
The controversy has also renewed discussions about accountability among religious leaders and the importance of examining claims of supernatural experiences within the context of Christian doctrine.
Neither the online reactions nor Damina’s criticism independently establishes whether Arome’s reported experiences occurred as described.
