Gospel singer Tope Alabi has threatened legal action against a Canada-based pastor, Tayo Kumuyi, popularly known as Pastor Tayo Ministries, over allegations linking her to the death of gospel minister Toluwanisings and other ministers.
Alabi, through her solicitors, Oakmount Legal Practitioners, has demanded the immediate removal of the alleged defamatory posts, a public retraction and an apology within 24 hours.
The demand was contained in a cease-and-desist letter dated October 24, 2026, titled “Cease and Desist: Malicious and Defamatory Publications and Threats Against Our Client”.
The lawyers accused the operator of the Pastor Tayo Ministries Facebook page of publishing a series of posts between October 20 and 24 allegedly linking Alabi to murder and ritual killings.
They described the allegations as false and challenged the pastor to provide evidence to support the claims.
“These statements accuse our client of murder and of ritual killing. There is no more serious allegation that can be made against a person, least of all a minister of the gospel. They are false in every particular,” the letter stated.
The solicitors maintained that no police investigation, official finding or court decision had established any connection between Alabi and the deaths mentioned in the publications.
They also stressed that the singer had publicly and privately mourned Toluwanisings following his death, insisting that she had no involvement in his death or that of any other person.
The lawyers accused the Facebook page operator of exploiting public grief over the death of the gospel minister to damage Alabi’s reputation.
“You have taken the grief of a bereaved family and a nation, and turned it into a weapon against an innocent woman, for reasons best known to you,” they wrote.
The dispute reportedly escalated after Alabi issued a public notice on October 23 warning against defamation.
According to the solicitors, a subsequent post allegedly directed at the singer contained the statement: “Tope Alabi, no letter will save you from my hand. Your only option is leaving your hiding place.”
The lawyers described the statement as a threat of harm, arguing that it suggested the publisher intended to continue the alleged campaign against their client.
They further warned that publications made after Alabi’s public notice could be relied upon in any legal proceedings as evidence of what they described as malice and an intention to persist in the alleged defamation.
The solicitors said the disputed posts had attracted hundreds of reactions, comments and shares, claiming that some comments suggested readers were accepting the allegations as true.
They maintained that presenting the claims as spiritual revelations did not automatically place them beyond the reach of the law.
“The fact that the statements are presented as spiritual revelations or religious opinions does not, without more, exempt their publication from the ordinary requirements of the law,” the letter stated.
The legal team also dismissed the suggestion that the pastor’s reported residence in Canada would necessarily prevent Alabi from pursuing legal remedies.
According to the letter, the publications were made on a public platform, in Yoruba and English, about a Nigerian public figure and concerning the death of a Nigerian minister, with the alleged harm occurring in Nigeria, where Alabi lives and works.
The solicitors consequently demanded that the pastor remove the disputed publications, stop making or circulating similar allegations and withdraw any requests encouraging others to share them.
They also demanded an unreserved public retraction and apology on the same Facebook page, to remain pinned for 14 consecutive days and receive prominence reasonably equivalent to that of the original posts.
The lawyers further requested that the pastor disclose the factual basis for any allegations he maintained and confirm whether the claims had been reported to the Nigeria Police Force or any other competent authority.
The letter also directed the recipient to preserve all relevant evidence, including posts, recordings, messages, drafts and available account records.
“Removal from public view must not involve the destruction or alteration of evidence,” the solicitors warned.
Threatening court action if the demands were not met within 24 hours, the legal team listed possible proceedings seeking damages, injunctions, legal costs and other remedies available under the law.
They also said they could petition Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, and refer the alleged threats to law enforcement authorities.
However, the solicitors clarified that the action was not intended to prevent legitimate journalism, lawful investigations or protected commentary.
The letter was signed by Toluwanimi Okunade of Oakmount Legal Practitioners on behalf of Alabi.
Toluwanisings, whose real name was Olayemi Bayonile Bolaji, died on October 14, 2026, at the age of 41.
Alabi had publicly mourned the late gospel minister following his death.
The allegations against the singer remain disputed, and the legal letter represents her solicitors’ position. No response from Pastor Tayo Ministries was included in the account of the dispute.
