A group of women on Thursday called on the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, to break his silence on the killings in the country.
The Punch reports that the protesters stormed the National Christian Centre, venue of the 11th General Assembly of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Abuja, to register their displeasure with Adeboye’s decision to keep sealed lips over the killings.
A few weeks ago, another group of protesters in Lagos had pressured on the respected clergy, who leads The redeemed Christian Church of God, to speak out against the growing insecurity in the land.
Many believe that his reluctance to speak is because of the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who is a senior pastor of the church.
They also submitted a protest letter at CAN secretariat.
According to the report, CAN said it would investigate their grievances, but exonerated Adeboye, saying its President, Supo Ayokunle, speaks for Christians.
The women were received by CAN Director (National Issues and Social Welfare), Bishop Stephen Adegbite, and Vice-Chairman (Northern Region), Rev Joseph Hayab.
Spokeswoman for the group, Juliet Ibrahim, who claimed to be a member of the RCCG in Nyanya parish of Abuja, said Adeboye should fight for Christians.
She said, “We are here fighting for the survival of our country. We are in pain; we are in sorrow over the killings and devastating things happening to our children.
“We want Adeboye to speak out; we want him to fight for us; we want to hear from him. If we hear from him, we will be calm. We are happy that CAN has spoken and they (0fficials) have encouraged us and we appreciate their encouragement.”
But Adegbite said, “There is no division in CAN; we are one body standing together because united we stand, divided we fall. So we are not going to be divided. Don’t allow anybody to deceive you because what we are doing today (CAN General Assembly) is to the glory of God and you are part of that celebration.”
Asked if CAN would investigate the issues raised about Adeboye, he said, “We are going to do everything. But we cannot suspend Adeboye”.
Hayab said the constitution did not confer on Adeboye the legitimacy to speak for Christians in Nigeria.
He said, “You see, we are trying to avoid the politicisation of the issue of religion. Adeboye is a leader of a denomination. Has he offended the denomination? There is no constitution of Nigeria which says that Adeboye as the leader of a denomination should speak for Christians.
“The constitution of CAN says the President of CAN should speak for CAN and the man, out of respect, has said that when the President of CAN speaks, he can’t speak again.
“If the President of Nigeria speaks, the SGF (Secretary to the Government of the Federation) will not speak again; the Chief of Staff will not speak again.”
Adeboye had recently warned of an impending plague in Nigeria if the shedding of innocent blood in the country continues.
He had said this during the Church’s July Holy Ghost Service h at the Redemption Camp and broadcast in the church’s parishes in Nigeria and 197 other countries.
He gave the warning in his sermon with the theme: “Swimming in Glory” and subtitled “Born to be great,” the pastor, while speaking on national issues, said too much shedding of innocent blood in a country is likely to lead to a plague
The Cleric further urged the church to continue praying for bloodshed and killings to stop.
“Blood is powerful, blood has a voice and it speaks. When the ground is saturated with the blood of innocent people, the ground speaks.
“Nigerians should pray for the killings to stop before the blood-soaked ground responds.
“When innocent blood is shed it goes into the ground and too much of it makes the ground respond in the form of plagues,” he said.
