SIR: In what can best be described as a classic case of apostolic zeal without knowledge, Pastor Uche Aigbe, resident pastor of House on The Rock Church, Abuja, mounted the pulpit with an AK 47 rifle to illustrate a message about fighting the good fight with spiritual weapons. The video instantly went viral and netizens raised concerns about the pastor’s actions. The police reacted swiftly and the pastor, the Chief Security Officer of the church and the policeman who gave the pastor the rifle are currently languishing in detention.
It says a lot about the quality of education in Nigeria that the pastor of the church who is presumably a university graduate (might even possess a Master’s degree) doesn’t have an inkling about the laws on the handling of firearms in Nigeria. Let us assume that the pastor doesn’t know, does the CSO (who most times are retired servicemen) not also know? Is there no one in the church who knows and could have pointed this out to him or were they all ignorant about it? Did they know but were so much in awe of him and were cowardly to point it out to him?
Nobody is above mistakes in life. But if someone had been courageous enough to point it out to him and he had done the needful, there would have been no video to put him in the trouble that he is currently in.
I blame the pastor. I blame the leaders of the church. I blame the CSO of the church. I blame the policeman who gave the pastor his rifle. I blame the laity who sat cowardly and did nothing.
President Muhammadu Buhari not too long ago gave an order to the security agencies to go into the bush and shoot anyone found with an AK 47 rifle. Did they not hear or read about it? Ignorance is no excuse under the law.
•Peter Ovie Akus,
New Jersey, USA.