Controversial media personality Ifedayo Olarinde, popularly known as Daddy Freeze, has recounted his ordeal for speaking against tithe.

He said he became scared for his life because of the uproar that greeted his stance on tithe.

He said he became poor due to the backlash, but it wasn’t “spiritual”, emphasizing that he is still being blacklisted in the media and entertainment industry.

He opened up in a recent podcast interview with actress Iyabo Ojo.

Daddy Freeze said, “When I started going against tithe, there’s no Nigerian pastor that didn’t respond. I just came and read the bible to them: Deuteronomy chapter 14, if you read from verse 22, it said, ‘Eat your tithe by yourself.’ I read it. Verse 26 said, ‘If the place the Lord your God has chosen for you to pay your tithe is too far away, sell the tithe and take the money when you get there use it to buy wine, beer, anything you want and celebrate in the house of the Lord.’

“I said so our tithe is to buy Hennessy and beers in the house of the Lord? I quoted it as the bible and presented it to them, mention any GO [General Overseer], they all responded. One top GO that I used to look up to said, ‘There’s one fellow on the internet, he said you should not pay your tithe.’ I said wow! Guess what? Their members took the video to them and said, ‘Look at this, they said we should not pay tithe and they’re quoting the bible.’ That was when I realised that church is a business.

“I was afraid. I thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to become poor. And yes, I became poor but it was not spiritual. They [pastors] locked all my financial streams as in they put calls through. I would have a job coming, I would just go to the job and they would say… Till now, they’re still doing it.”

He added that he didn’t die or fall sick despite all the curses some clergymen lay on him.

Daddy Freeze maintained that “the bible does not support the tithe system that Nigeria runs.”