In Lagos, where gridlock is a civic rite and Sunday sermons rival TED Talks in theatrical flair, even pastors aren’t immune to public spectacle. Cue Paul Adefarasin, the commanding voice behind House on the Rock and maestro of Nigeria’s famed gospel mega show, The Experience, now in an altogether different kind of spotlight.

It began, like many modern scandals do, with a shaky video clip. There he was, Pastor Adefarasin, seen waving a suspicious object while gesturing at another motorist on a congested Lagos road. The Internet, that endless jury of peers, swiftly convened. Was that a gun? Was the pastor packing heat?

The pastor said no; it was a misunderstanding. The police said… sort of. It wasn’t a gun, technically. It was a stun gun, a “prohibited anti-riot device,” per CSP Benjamin Hundeyin of the Lagos Police Command. Non-lethal, yes. Legal? Not quite.

To his credit, Adefarasin didn’t play hide and seek. He walked himself into the police station (perhaps trading his pulpit robe for plain clothes) and offered a “cautionary statement.” He was granted bail shortly thereafter. Investigations, we are assured, are ongoing.

The story would be comical if it weren’t so Nigerian. A megachurch leader trained in Florida and mentored by T.D. Jakes, holding an electroshock device on Lagos traffic camera. It reads like the plot of a Nollywood satire, only real.

Still, what does it say when a man of the cloth, one who once confessed to finding salvation after battling substance abuse in Miami, finds himself back in the wilderness, this time armed with 50,000 volts?

“Pastor Paul” remains revered, especially by followers who see the incident as overblown. But the optics, a high-profile pastor wielding riot gear in traffic, remain jarring.

Perhaps there’s a sermon in this: even shepherds need direction. And in Lagos traffic, perhaps just a working horn.

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