By Damilola Akinlotan
22-year-old Nigerian chef Damilola Adeparusi, popularly known as Chef Dammy, has raised the alarm over alleged relentless threats and intimidation from individuals whom she tagged “people of God” and her pastor, Adegoke Jeremiah, a.k.a Billionaire Dollar Prophet.
Chef Dammy shot into the limelight when she began her cook-a-thon ‘test run’ on 11 June and continued until 15 June, cooking over 100 pots of food during her four-day kitchen stint.
Many believed she aimed to beat Hilda’s feat, confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records.
However, she said it was a test run as the 120-hour cook-a-thon was to push her abilities rather than aiming to break any record.
Her bold attempt was welcomed with mixed reactions, with some criticising her for attempting to break Hilda’s record just weeks after she set the record, while others commended her bravery.
However, Chef Dammy’s eventual attempt at displacing Hilda as the world record holder for the longest cooking marathon by an individual fell short because she needed to apply to Guinness Records before attempting in the first place.
Although it has been four months since the Ekiti chef made waves for her Cook-a-Thon, the event’s aftermath has been far from favourable.
In a surprise Instagram post on Thursday, the 300-level Mass Communication student of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), said that she had been threatened and bullied, leaving her living in constant fear for her life.
The 24-year-old chef said she had been threatened by her pastor and others she described as ‘people of God’.
Chef Dammy wrote in an Instagram post, “By the time we are done with you, you will not be able to stand on your feet again.” This was from the acclaimed “people of God” among many of the countless insults, curses, threats and bullying she reportedly received.
‘‘I’ve been in constant fear for my life. Myriad times, they’ve tried to destroy me as promised, but with God, I keep moving as if nothing ever happened. Shouldn’t we have gotten over this? I mean, it’s four months already; guess you will not stop until I stop breathing?”
Chef Dammy also recalled a past confrontation with her pastor wherein he challenged her faith and urged her to ‘prepare for war.’
She said, “The first time the man of God tried to challenge my God, he failed, and then he told me to prepare for war; I know about gods, and that is why I chose the undefeatable God. Surely they shall gather, but they that be with me are more than they that be with them.”
Bone of contention
It is currently unclear what seems to be the bone of conflict between the chef and her once-supportive pastor, but Chef Dammy has promised to open the can of worms soon. Recall that her cook-a-thon was aired via the church’s Facebook page.
Meanwhile, she questioned the actions of those who profess to be “people of God” and pondered the conflict between their professed faith and their actions.
Although sketchy and unclear, Chef Dammy said the public outcry is just a glimpse of what she must have encountered these past months, as she promised to keep her fans updated.
“Assuming I had died a few days ago, people would’ve understood better what I’ve been facing by the testimony of those around me. But I’ll still try and bind my piece because it is a testimony that others can learn from”, she said.
Prophet, the pastor of Spirit Word Global Mission, has reacted to Chef Dammy’s allegation
Through the church’s Facebook page, the pastor noted that the Cook-a-Thon was not Chef Dammy’s Idea alone, that two other people were involved, and that 50 church members approved.
The church also shared a video showing the WhatsApp messages where the idea was conceived and approved on the church’s WhatsApp group.
He also noted that the church hosted the cook-a-thon, which ran for 120 hours.
When this newspaper contacted the church via phone, the spokesperson, Paniel Idowu, said that Chef Dammy’s behaviour took a different turn after the cook-a-thon and that she never returned to the church.
She said, “Chef Dammy is making up stories; she left the church after putting up ‘a lot of stunts’’.
Explaining the ‘stunts’ chef Dammy must have pulled, the church spokesperson said, “She started pulling back from the church a week after the church a week after the cook-a-thon ended. She left the church and took her ATM, even though the church took care of the expenses of running the cook-a-Thon; when the money was disbursed, she just left.”
The church’s spokesperson said that before the cook-a-thon, Chef Dammy lived with other congregation members, until her newfound fame.
She said, “Her fans gifted Chef Dammy but never returned to the church, even if the church did not ask for the money. She had already disbursed the money, according to her, but that was not the church’s concern, even if the cook-a-thon was not entirely her idea, as the church bore all the expenses.”
The church emphasised that nobody had been in contact with Chef Dammy since, and they were shocked at her recent posts.
The church also said that Chef Dammy should release evidence where the pastor or any congregation member threatened her.
She also noted that the church’s pastor would only react when Chef Dammy came clean or provided evidence to back her claims.
The Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Adeoye Aribasoye, lauded her. Since the Cook-a-thon ended, Chef Dammy has become a mini-celebrity in Ekiti State, where she is based.
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