The Christian Association of
Nigeria, CAN, has defended the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian
Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s presumed silence on prevailing
national issues.
CAN pointed out that Adeboye was
its member as well as Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and the two
Christian bodies have taken their stand of current national issues.
The apex Christian body said no
one should expect Adeboye to speak on the same issues that have been addressed
by the two prominent Christian bodies.
The reaction of CAN is coming on
the backdrop of alleged protest by a group of secular musicians who claimed
they were protesting the refusal of Adeboye to comment on national issues in
recent times.
CAN’s position was contained in a
statement issued in Jos, the Plateau State capital on Wednesday by Evangelist
Barr Kwamkur Samuel, National Director, Legal and Public Affairs.
CAN said, “The attention of the
Christian Association of Nigeria has been drawn to the news of a protest led by
some secular musicians against one of our highly respected leaders of the
Church, not only in Nigeria, but Worldwide, namely, the General Overseer of
Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch A. Adeboye, over his purported
silence on some unpleasant national issues and the call for his suspension from
the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, (PFN).
“While we appreciate the concern
of the protesters over the issues they raised and the call for a better nation,
we strongly believe, as the umbrella body for Christians and churches in
Nigeria, to which the Redeemed Christian Church of God and Pastor E. A. Adeboye
belong, that to single out one of our leaders and members, to say the least, is
unfair. The entire exercise, in our view, was ill-motivated.
“The people who staged this
insulting protest against a highly revered servant of God in the person of
Pastor Enoch A. Adeboye are totally ignorant of the operations of the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN). It needs to be known to all that for more than
once, Pastor E. A. Adebayo has addressed the press and said that as a ‘man
under authority’, he cannot speak over issues that CAN or PFN have spoken
about, unless by the express permission of these two bodies.
“Our highly respected worldwide,
Pastor Adeboye is an unusually humble man and a man of the spirit, who has
learnt to operate under authority in line with Scriptural injunctions as a
Servant of God. He has said more than once that he cannot say anything again
after CAN and PFN have spoken about issues.
“Any protest against Pastor
Adeboye will be seen by us as a systematic insult against the leaders of the
church in Nigeria. Why should any group of people think that it is their right
to protest and demand that Pastor Adeboye should speak over the issues they
listed when CAN and PFN have spoken on them?
An attempt to demand that pastors
that belong to our collective Association should again be speaking one by one
after the group has spoken is an attempt to divide the Christian body.
“For emphasis, if we go the
memory lane, for not less than three occasions, CAN has taken many of the
issues which the protesters were mentioning to President Muhammadu Buhari,
requesting the government to do more to get the people in captivity released
such as the remaining Chibok Girls, Leah Sharibu, the captive of faith and El
Zakzaki, the Islamic Preacher that is still kept in detention against the
ruling of the court. CAN has spoken to those in government, especially the
Christians among them, who belong to our Association, to speak for the
oppressed like Esther of the Bible did, and defend the faith rather than
explain away evils in order to protect their jobs and daily bread. On some
occasions we have written the National Assembly for their intervention to no
avail.
“While we understand the
frustration of those who organized the protest, we are against the method they
adopted by directing their anger against an innocent person. Pastor Adeboye
will never support oppression and he has been speaking against these evils in
the land through Christian Association of Nigeria and on several occasions in
his sermons”
The Christian body called on
those who protested to direct their future protest at those in government who
should do more to free people in captivity for no sin of theirs.
He added that, “They should
direct their protest against the people in power to make the nation safer from
the attacks of herdsmen, kidnappers, ritual killers, armed robbers, armed
bandits and Boko Haram terrorists.
“We have no gun to fight our
battles except to speak out as we have been doing and never at the same time
give up praying to God who can do all things.”
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