The Command said that its investigation into the viral video showing Pastor Adefarasin holding what the Command confirmed to be a stun gun, showed that there is no sufficient grounds to prosecute the cleric.
The Lagos State Police Command has reversed its earlier position, saying that it will not be prosecuting Nigerian pastor, Paul Adefarasin, for possessing and brandishing a stun gun at someone in a viral video.
The Command said that its investigation into the viral video showing Pastor Adefarasin holding what the Command confirmed to be a stun gun, showed that there is no sufficient grounds to prosecute the cleric.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Adebisi, said that Adefarasin, the Senior Pastor of House on the Rock Church, voluntarily reported himself at the Command headquarters in Ikeja after the video sparked public outrage.
“Following the incident, wherein Pastor Paul Adefarasin turned himself in at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja, in connection with a viral video showing him holding a gun-like object, the Lagos State Police Command wishes to provide a further update on the matter,” Adebisi stated.
The police spokesperson explained that investigators interrogated the pastor and took a cautionary statement from him.
She said the findings of the police investigation confirmed that the item the pastor pointed at someone in the viral video was a stun gun and not a conventional firearm or lethal weapon.
“After a thorough investigation, including interrogation and a cautionary statement from Pastor Adefarasin, it was established that the object in question was a stun gun and not a lethal weapon or firearm,” Adebisi said.
The Command however stated that since stun guns are classified differently under Nigerian law, there was no basis to pursue a criminal case.
“Consequent on our findings, the Lagos State Police Command has determined that there are no sufficient grounds to proceed with the matter. The case is hereby discontinued,” the Police spokesperson declared.
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters reported on June 19, 2025, that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, clarified that the actions of the Pastor constituted an offence under the law.
The commissioner made the statement after Adefarasin reported himself to the Lagos State Police Command in Ikeja after a viral video surfaced showing him brandishing a gun-like object at someone while driving.
The Command confirmed then that the item recovered from Adefarasin was not a firearm but a stun gun, “which is a prohibited anti-riot equipment.”
Featuring on a Channels TV programme on Thursday, the Commissioner faulted the cleric’s actions.
“By pointing out a stun gun to another individual and sending that threat and fear to such a person at that particular time constitutes an offence,” he said.
The police commissioner emphasised that the law would follow its usual procedure in handling the case.
Jimoh assured the public that the police are conducting their investigation in line with the law and the constitution.
“Police are not doing our thing but we are doing everything in line with the law and in line with extant provisions of the constitution creating the police force and the Police Act and other regulations that we are abiding with in carrying out our day-to-day activities,” he said.
He noted that though the pastor has been granted bail, he remains under investigation.
Jimoh promised to make the investigation’s outcome public.
“Pastor Adefarasin is still under investigation though he has been granted bail but we will continue the investigation and will make known to the public the outcome of the investigation,” he had said.
“Nothing is an offence under the law except what the law states to be an offence. Even under the Firearms Act, if you fabricate something that doesn’t look like a metal gun, but rather like wood, and make it look like a gun and use that to take possession of property from another person, you have committed armed robbery,” he said.
“Notwithstanding the offence, as I said earlier, the procedure for treating an offender will be followed, and it applies to the pastor,” he had added.
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