Human rights lawyer and activist, Inibehe Effiong, on Monday has taken to social media to express disappointment over what he described as the “unfortunate transformation” of popular cleric, Pastor Femi Lazarus, founder of Sphere of Light Church, Ikeja.

Effiong, who admitted to once admiring the pastor and even attending one of his church services, said he has recently observed a troubling shift in Lazarus’s preaching and public statements.

“I genuinely like Femi Lazarus and some of his messages. My admiration for him once led me to his Church, Sphere of Light in Ikeja, on a given Sunday for service,” Effiong wrote.

However, the activist lamented that the cleric’s recent actions and utterances suggest that he “has been changing in ways that aren’t admirable,” alleging that Lazarus now “behaves and talks like someone who has been compromised.”

Effiong further accused the preacher of diluting his messages and losing grasp of “sound doctrine,” adding that his recent public postures have been “nothing short of embarrassing.”

While acknowledging the pastor’s right to freely express his opinions, Effiong warned that religious leaders who “speak carelessly or pander to the political establishment” must also be ready to face public criticism.

Referencing Lazarus’s recent comments on the spate of killings in Nigeria, Effiong said the cleric appeared to be “on a different path.”

“Brother Femi, if you cannot condemn the mass killings in Nigeria, it is better for you to remain quiet like some of your fellow pastors,” Effiong cautioned.

He also faulted Lazarus’s alleged suggestion that the government is “doing something right,” describing it as a “delusional understanding of the true situation of things in Nigeria.”

“America will not be dabbling into our internal affairs if our government was not criminally irresponsible and incompetent,” Effiong said, adding that the pastor’s steady inflow of “tithes, seeds, and offerings” might have insulated him from the harsh realities faced by ordinary Nigerians.

The activist concluded by urging the cleric to emulate the early apostles who “spoke truth to power consistently,” insisting that silence is better than “downplaying the evil or trivializing the suffering of those whose lives have been ruined by failure of governance.”