The Lagos State Police Command has announced it will not prosecute Pastor Paul Adefarasin of House on the Rock Church after confirming that a controversial object he brandished in a viral video was a stun gun, not a firearm.
Police spokesperson SP Abimbola Adebisi said Wednesday that Adefarasin voluntarily reported to police headquarters in Ikeja after public outrage over the footage. During interrogation, he admitted to holding the device and gave a cautionary statement.
“After a thorough investigation, it was established that the object in question was a stun gun and not a lethal weapon or firearm,” Adebisi said. She added that Nigerian law treats stun guns differently, leaving no sufficient grounds for prosecution.
The announcement appears to contradict earlier remarks by Lagos Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, who in June insisted that pointing a stun gun at another individual could constitute an offence. At the time, he stressed that “sending fear to such a person at that particular moment constitutes an offence” and vowed the matter would be pursued in line with the law.
Jimoh also warned that offences must be strictly defined, citing provisions of the Firearms Act, which criminalizes the use of fabricated or imitation weapons in robberies.
Despite those earlier positions, the Command has now closed the case, confirming the pastor is no longer under investigation.
