Paternity Claims: Pastor Chris Okafor Demands Retraction, Threatens Legal Action
The preacher's lawyers are demanding retractions, apologies published in national newspapers, and DNA tests. They have warned that failure to comply could result in legal action.
The Founder of the Mountain of Liberation and Miracle Ministry, Pastor Chris Okafor, has threatened legal action over claims that he is the father of a lady identified as Chidera Okafor.
In a now-viral conversation with social media commentator, VeryDarkMan, whose real name is Martins Vincent Otse, Chidera claimed that the Lagos-based cleric is her father. She alleged abandonment by the preacher.
At a press briefing, Pastor Okafor’s lawyers dismissed the claims, describing them as “damaging, misleading, and unacceptable”.
“We wish to make it categorically assertive and unequivocally clear that those claims, as alleged by the so-called Ms. Chi Okafor, are frantically untrue, misleading, malicious, inciting, and injurious to the personality and character of our client,” the lawyers said during the briefing.
They demanded the “immediate retraction of all false, defamatory, and misleading statements published online or elsewhere concerning our client, followed by an apology in two national dailies, and a copy of the apology be sent to the appropriate authorities”.
“Cessation and desistance from further presenting or implying any familial relationship with our client,” and challenged the “impostor to avail herself and her sibling for a DNA test in any choice health facility in the absence of the prior DNA certificate.”
Pastor Okafor’s lawyers also asked for the “removal of all content that falsely associates him with claims of paternity or abandonment”.
“TAKE NOTICE that failure to comply with these demands may leave our client with no alternative but to pursue appropriate legal remedies to protect his reputation and integrity,” the lawyers said at the press conference.
Chidera’s Allegations, VDM’s Comment
Verydarkman
During the conversation with VeryDarkMan, Chidera had claimed that the preacher mistreated her while she stayed with him.
The lady claimed that she is “the daughter of Prophet Dr Chris Okafor. I used to live with him years ago, and I left around 2020 because things were about to get out of hand.
“While I was living in the house, amongst all my siblings, I am the only one from my mother, while the other four are from a different mom.
“While I was living in the house, I used to get treated unfairly; it was very visible, and even the workers in the house could see it,” Chidera alleged.
In a caption accompanying the audio, VeryDarkMan (VDM) wrote: “Pastor Chris Okafor, this is yet another disturbing testimony from one of your daughters, your own flesh and blood.
“All three of your adult daughters have shared troubling accounts. I was literally sick after listening to this particular testimony; it’s shocking at that age”.
READ ALSO: Mr Jollof, VDM Apologise Over In-Flight Clash
Pastor Okafor Threatens Legal Action
Court
However, in a response, Pastor Okafor’s lawyers accused VDM of not “having the decency to reach out to our client to hear his own side before publishing such malicious, self-serving contents all over the internet”.
They added that the social media critic is only interested in how to “create content and cheap popularity, having known that our client, as a pastor, may not respond to him on social”.
Narrating how Chidera’s mother and the cleric met, the lawyers said that while the woman and Pastor Okafor were married at some point, the union was dissolved over alleged infidelity on the part of the woman.
The lawyers said, “our client and the impostor’s mother ended the supposed marriage, and both severed personal ties following a DNA test that conclusively established that the children in question are not his biological children.
“The woman left with the children of the marriage.”
“Despite this finding, and purely out of compassion and goodwill, our client has continued to provide support toward the children’s education and general welfare, up to the stage of their careers in Canada and the United Kingdom, respectively. A gesture that should not be misrepresented as acknowledgment of paternity.”
“Let us reiterate here for emphasis purposes that the ongoing public portrayal of Ms. Lilian Okafor and her sibling as our client’s children, as well as the publication of statements alleging abandonment, constitute misrepresentation and libel. Such actions are damaging, misleading, and unacceptable,” they said during the briefing.
Actress Accuses Cleric, Seeks Compensation
Meanwhile, Pastor Okafor recently remarried, tying the knot with his heart’s desire, Pearl, at an event attended by family members, friends, and well-wishers amid a series of allegations by Nollywood actress, Doris Ogala.
Ogala claimed that she had been in a relationship with Okafor dating back to 2017. The allegations intensified once the cleric’s engagement video went viral.
She accused the preacher of betrayal after years of assurance and intimacy, alleging to have left her past marriage at the preacher’s insistence.
The actress claimed that the development left her battling with emotional distress and asked Pastor Okafor to marry her or settle her financially.
Following the pastor’s marriage, Ogala served a pre-action notice on the preacher, accusing him of breaching a marriage promise. She demanded ₦1 billion in damages.
In response to her, the lawyers to the senior pastors of Grace Nation Liberation City described the allegations as “laughable.”
Since the matter is under investigation by law enforcement agencies, they want to “respectfully allow the wheels of the law to take their full course in that regard.”
