The Nation Newspaper

Tag: deliverance

  • ‘Pastor rapes’ woman during ‘deliverance’

    The police yesterday arraigned a 32- year-old ‘pastor’ before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly raping a woman.

    Micheal Akpan, who lives at 17, Unity Close, Obawole, Iju, Lagos, allegedly committed the offence on August 17 at his residence.

    Prosecuting Inpector Raji Akeem said the accused pretended to be a pastor and told the complainant, a 29- year-old, who was on her way to work, that he had powers to deliver her from satanic oppression.

    The accused, he said, told the complainant to buy seven bottles of olive oil for cleansing and asked to meet him in his house later that day.

    When she came, the accused, he said, shut the door and raped her.

    Akeem said the complainant reported the case at the police station and the accused was arrested.

    The offence, he said, contravened Section 260 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    Akpan pleaded not guilty.

    Chief Magistrate Jadesola Adeyemi -Ajayi granted him N200,000 bail with two sureties in the like sum.

    The case continues on October 10.

  • ‘Ekiti State needs deliverance’

    Tunji David is indeed leaving no stone unturned in his bid to win support for his organisation, ‘Ojudu Mass Movement (OMM),’ a youth pressure group canvassing for the candidacy of Senator Babafemi Ojudu, the current Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Political Matters, as governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State.  He spoke with Paul Ukpabio.

    WHY did you start this movement and at what point did you decide that the movement must come to be?

    Proverbs 29 vs. 2, states that ‘when the righteous are in authority the people rejoice, and you know the vice-versa. It is a known fact that Ekiti State has fallen today into the hands of the present government. This movement is borne out of my passion for my state and my passion cannot be divorced from the person who can take us out of this precarious state in the person of Senator Babafemi Ojudu

     Is your organisation a pressure group or an interventionist mass movement?

    We are both a pressure and interventionist group. Ojudu Mass Movement (OMM) is a world movement of Ekiti people to support the emergence and candidature of Senator Babafemi Ojudu for the 2018 Ekiti Governorship Election. As at today, he is most qualified to occupy the seat at Oke-Ayoba in Ado-Ekiti. He is a man of integrity, a true son of Ekiti, a progressive to the core, an Awoist, a man of great ideology, a man who has the interest and well-being of his people at heart, a mobilizer, a strategist, an experienced private and public servant and an astute politician. This is a man who has sacrificed a lot for the interest of his state. He is the fear factor in Ekiti state politics. OMM is predominantly a youth movement which is mobilizing youths of Ekiti, home and abroad, on the importance of making sure Babafemi Ojudu is adopted or emerges as the most needed person to bring the state out of the present dilemma it has found itself.  This movement is spearheaded by myself and a host of progressive youthful minds like Engineer Femi Johnson, Olawale Omotoyinbo, to mention a few of other young Ekiti thinkers doing great things within and outside Nigeria.

     A lot of people see Ojudu from the point of view of a conservative, though, rational journalist who strayed into politics. Do you think he is more than that?

    I would rather call him a strategist and not a conservative. On whether he strayed into politics? No! He was one of those who fought for the return of democracy in Nigeria with respected people like Barrister Femi Falana (SAN). He was arrested, tortured and incarcerated for his belief in returning power to a democratically elected President even after Chief (MKO) Abiola (Winner of June 12, 1993 election) was killed. Senator Ojudu, as a political activist, journalist and administrator, is the man who has the right prescription and dose to be administered to Ekiti state in the situation it has found itself today. As the present Special Adviser to the President (President Muhammadu Buhari) on Political Matters, his experience and connections cut across party lines. He is a bridge builder, he may not be the kind of man that shares money indiscriminately but he will teach you how to fish. I would rather be taught how to fish so I can make more and also teach other people, than queue on the streets of Ekiti and be handed crumbs like it’s done in the state today.  He is a man that I am privileged to have been with and I know what he is capable of doing. Senator Ojudu will never promise you what he won’t do, even his enemies can attest to this.

    Do you think Ojudu has a chance to become the Governor of Ekiti State with the likes of ex-Governor Segun Oni and Kayode Fayemi who is trying to make a comeback according to grapevine sources?

    Asking this question is like asking a student whose school fees has been paid and has written exams and passed and another student who paid his school fees and failed and you are now asking the student who passed  “Are you sure you will be promoted to the next class?”.  Senator Babafemi Ojudu has paid his dues both in Ekiti State and Nigerian politics. Mind you, he is the only man who has defeated the present governor of Ekiti State in an elective position. Engineer Segun Oni is a wonderful man and Dr. Fayemi have both shown to the Ekiti people what they can offer and you know you don’t have a second chance to make a first impression. Ekiti needs radical and quick changes and the injection of new ideas to its present economic downturn, high level of poverty, and dehumanizing way of living they’ve been subjected to. That is what Senator Babafemi Ojudu represents.

    What are the leadership benefits your candidate is bringing to Ekiti as governor of the state in 2018?

    These qualities are what I have mentioned earlier. His leadership qualities cannot be overemphasized. He is not a man who practices politics of bitterness.

    He is a man whose focal point is to make Ekiti State return to its glory of people who respect elders, people who have dignity of labour, a people who are not beggars.  You know Ekiti State is agrarian in nature, with Ojudu in authority; Ekiti State can be self-sufficient in yam, rice, and corn produce and even feed the whole of South-West within the next four to five years. This is where we are taking Ekiti State to with an excellent mind like Ojudu

    With the present political situation in Ekiti State, are you one of the people that think the state needs deliverance?

    The state does not only need deliverance, the state needs rescue and restoration. Honestly Ekiti State has taken the back seat in people-oriented development projects in the past three years. I am an Ekiti man and I know what my people are saying. Salaries are not being paid for months and a governor is building a bridge that leads to nowhere. What economic benefit is a bridge that costs billions of naira to the people of Ekiti State when the people are hungry, parents can’t pay school fees and so on? It is pathetic my brother. Our future and that of our children is being mortgaged. There must be salvation.

    Your analysis suggests Ekiti may have suddenly digressed from her knowledge seeking posture to a food (stomach infrastructure) seeking conclave; so how is your candidate going to convince electorates to change their view and search for the big picture?

    You know this man has been a journalist and you know journalists feel the pulse of the people; they are always on the street. Senator (Babafemi) Ojudu does not only feel the pulse, he is ready to administer the necessary medication.  People talk about the grassroots, the fact that someone eats ponmo on the street of Ado-Ekiti or buys amala and ewedu at Iya Oyo does not make you closer to the grassroots. Do you know how many times Senator Ojudu has eaten on the streets? The fact that he doesn’t post it on social media doesn’t make him less important to the people. It is so unfortunate that the psyche of our people is being played on. You cannot give out what you don’t have. Ojudu is a man of high moral value. A state governor is not elected to criticize, he is elected to govern. Mind me, criticism is not bad, in fact, I recommend criticism, but it must be done constructively. Criticism is not abusing elders and calling them names, wishing them dead.

  • ‘Such ‘pastors’ need deliverance’

    ‘Such ‘pastors’ need deliverance’

    Pastor Olutosin Abiodun of Proofs of God Power Ministry, in a chat with our reporters said, “As a pastor it gives me serious concern. No matter the reason a pastor gives, he should not be found in such unholy behaviour because he is the custodian of the word of God. The bible clearly prescribes what’s expected of any spiritual head, and when a man of God is found in such an act, he should not be on the pulpit preaching.

    Abiodun noted that “there are some pastors that are being haunted by their foundation. For such pastors they need serious deliverance. For those who are doing it deliberately, they should be made to face the law. For those who cannot control their passion, they should be made to leave the pulpit and other pastors should help them out of this unholy passion.”

    Asked if he ever gets tempted in the course of counselling and interfacing with female worshippers, Pastor Abiodun’s candid response was, “Yes. But prayers and self-control is the key. I also make sure I relate with my wife very well to avoid being tempted.”

    He said “Those who are not yet married should be allowed to get married before taking up pastoral assignments. All pastors must understand that their calling is a noble one and they must therefore have self-control and relate with their wives very well. They should not be too carried away with the work at the expense of their family life. It is not all the time a pastor should be fasting; spend quality time with your wife, build a strong bond with her. This will be of great help when the day of temptation comes. Let me also add that pastors should endeavour to stop praying for ladies in private places. Let all your activities be in the church, where everyone can see you.”

    To pastors’ wives, Abiodun also has a message: “Pastors’ wives have a role to play. If your husband falls victim of sexual immorality, the shame will stare you both in the face. Therefore, as a pastor’s wife, you should not deny your husband sex. No matter what, never use sex as a way of punishing him.

  • Man dies during deliverance service in Edo

    A 45-year old man identified as Osayande Ekhator has been mysteriously killed during a deliverance service at a Pentecostal church at Uselu Quarters in Egor Local Government, Edo state.

    The victim’s family had taken him to the Holy Ghost Deliverance Centre popularly called Hope Ministry for spiritual cleansing when the sad incident occurred.

    Some family members alleged that the victim was beaten to death and that they saw his lifeless body with bloodstains.

    Father of the deceased, Pa Ekhator, told newsmen that he suspected that the deliverance session had gone wrong when his late son was thrown to the ground, with his hands and legs tied.

    He said, “They forced‎ him and tied him as usual and threw him down. From there, they carried a bucket full of water and poured it on his body.

    “The mother asked why. They said that is what they usually do‎, that after struggling, they wanted him to have rest and cool down. After about five minutes she came crying that Osayande is dead.”

    Sister of the victim, alleged that the victim was “beaten to death” by his deliverers, who also planned to deposit his remains at a mortuary.

    She said, “‎They beat him to death. They removed the clothed he came with, bathe him and wear another clothe on him.

    “They said that they wanted to take him to a mortuary. But we refused.”

    A resident in the area who pleaded anonymity said ‎there were blood stains on his head.

    “I think he must have hit his head somewhere. I saw blood on his head‎ when his body was placed in a vehicle,” the resident said.

    Resident Pastor of the church, Mrs. Isoken Ekundaye, denied the allegations and said several insane persons have been healed in the church.

    “We don’t kill here. We don’t beat here. If they bring insane people, we heal,” Ekundaye said‎.

    Some youths however invaded the church after the incident and destroyed many properties.

    Edo Police spokesman, DSP Stephen Onwochei, said that the said pastor had been arrested and the case transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for investigation.

  • Nigeria’s sins: Time for atonement, deliverance, restitution and change

    Nigeria’s sins: Time for atonement, deliverance, restitution and change

    For the last three years, I have written so many papers on the wickedness of the federal government for their criminal attitude of delays and non-payment of pensions, gratuities and arrears to retired workers known as senior citizens. This has now been extended to non-retired workers. The sins committed by the present Nigerian government are legion: corruption, indiscipline, impunity, selfishness, greed, avarice, lies, ungodliness, wickedness, insecurity and all other evils of different descriptions. The foundation of all these evils is the twin evils of indiscipline and corruption. In truth, the father of corruption is indiscipline by which corruption is watered, while corruption breeds all the other evils in our society. A nation harbouring all these evils in a fell-swoop is a nation full of sins, many of which are unpardonable even in the eyes of God. As of today, Nigeria suffers from her many sins.

    The Jonathan government has committed many unpardonable sins, all of them associated with indiscipline, corruption and impunity. The consequence has led Nigeria, an oil rich nation, to a beggar nation, and a nation where God’s given wealth has been squandered through serial stealings of public funds diverted into private pockets by horrible people in government. Nigeria is a nation where people shamefully complain about non-electricity supply in the 21st century! In this article, we shall deal with official corruption as it affects Nigeria as a nation and the welfare of the good people of Nigeria, and especially the welfare of workers – the creators of the wealth of the nation. Our write-up focuses on atrocities committed by the federal government on the issues of delay or non-payment of workers’ salaries as well as gratuities and pensions of retired workers as at when due, and, of course, the corruption of the federal government that has led to the impoverishment of States and their citizens.

    It is known that the present government has made more money from oil, from 1999 to 2013 than any previous government. At one point, the price of oil reached as high as $147 per barrel. Now the price of oil has gone down to $45 per barrel which is likely to nosedive in a few weeks. The problem is compounded by the refusal of the federal government to build refineries for its 16 years in the saddle. Consequently, Nigeria exports oil only to import petroleum products which led to an unprecedented sleaze in the petroleum sector. When the going was good, and with a lot of money earned from crude oil, our government stole our fantastic earnings from crude oil through the Petroleum Ministry and the NNPC under the supervision of the darling of the presidency, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke where theft of oil was reported to have risen from 250,000 to 400,000 pb between 2011 and 2012. Things were so bad that nobody, except the Petrol Minister and Mr. President and, perhaps other few members of the cabal in the petroleum industry, know precisely how many barrels of crude oil are sold in a day and how much money accrues to the Federation Account until the missing $20bn was discovered, while ¦ 5 trillion was reported to have disappeared under the watch of the president and his petroleum minister, without explanation till today (The Nation, January 15, 2015, p5).

    People would like to believe that the discovery of the huge amounts of money was only a tip of the iceberg, as it must have been going on for years. This, of course, includes the phantom oil subsidy and various avenues of stealing in the petroleum ministry. The amount of money stolen was actually meant for the Federation Account from which all the states would have benefitted immensely through monthly allocations. We now know from Obasanjo that Nigerian foreign reserves has been depleted by more than 50%, from $67bn in 2007 to $30bn in 2014, as a result of official corruption in the oil sector. The federal government’s unprecedented profligacy has led to the tragic devaluation of the naira to ¦ 195 in January 2015, a sure scenario that would greatly hurt President Jonathan in this year’s election.

    The stealing of revenue from oil became so great that throughout last year, allocations to states that were needed to develop as well pay salaries of workers were cut by 40%. This had impacted negatively on the lives and standard of living of Nigerian citizens, workers, market women, artisans, relatives and dependants. Thus, the criminal reduction of Federal Allocation to states became a terrible blow to innocent Nigerians where God’s given wealth had been squandered by greedy, wicked and extremely corrupt people in government. Things are so bad that we now read such screaming headlines like “mass sacking looms in private sector” (Punch, January 4, 2015, pp 2 & 6). Nigerian workers and pensioners are perhaps the hardest hit. There was a disturbing headline “FG owes 70,000 workers three months salaries” (Punch, Dec. 30, 2014, p1-2) where the paper had painted a vivid picture of the way the federal government treats its workers, even at Christmas, in 2014. Note that the delay or non-payment of salaries in the States is caused by corruption, indiscipline, impunity and bad governance at the centre where state allocations are squandered and stolen, shared and some for the purpose of 2015 general elections. On this matter, one cannot but agree with Festus Eriye, editor of Sunday Nation, that “squandermania mixed withmanagerial incompetence has brought Nigeria to her current sorry pass” (January 11, 2015, p.18). On the waste of public funds the Punch’s damaging editorial (January 15, p.26) wrote about the “rampant waste of public funds, the plunder of the oil Excess Crude Oil Account and other fiscal buffers”, and then asks a most pertinent question: “where has all the oil money earned since the fourth oil boom (2003 – 2014) gone? This is most certainly a sin against Nigeria and Nigerians, and humanity at large.

    The Bible says that every labourer is entitled to his/her wages. This code is respected everywhere, but not in Nigeria where sins and evil triumph. Nigeria is a nation where workers are owed salaries in arrears of up to 6 months. Of course, the sinners in the Federal government have stolen so much money of the people that they have little left for States to pay workers’ salaries. The tragic situation was well reported in The Punch’s editorial, January 4, 2015, p.26, captioned “Celebrating New Year without salary”, part of which reads “today, many civil servants will greet the New year with despair rather than hope”. This is because of the scandalous failure of “federal government and many governors to pay salaries of workers for several months”. But the Federal government and not the state governments are responsible for this atrocious crime. The federal government had squandered the normal allocation to the states that now receive only about 50% of their entitlements. That is how bad it is. And that is where the prodigal administration of President Jonathan has led Nigeria, a nation full of milk and honey and where citizens have no reason to be poor, or workers not receiving their salaries and pensions regularly and as at when due. No wonder some people are now saying in a paradoxical fashion, that Goodluck Jonathan is BADLUCK for Nigeria, perhaps, the worst president Nigeria has ever had and which must not be allowed to continue beyond May 29, 2015.

    Rather than make atonement for the sins committed against pensioners in this country, the federal government continue to compound their woes, even at Christmas and New Year. The situation was so bad last December that Nigerian Pensioners cried out “We had a bleak Christmas and New year” (Punch, January 5, 2015, p44). According to the newspaper report, “there seems to be no end in sight yet to the problems confronting retirees of the federal government… most Nigerians enjoyed the Christmas and New Year holidays with their families and friends but there was no celebration for many federal retirees who have not been paid their pension stipends”. And the report continued “Some of the complaints coming from the Pensioners are non-payment of pensions, omission of pensioner’s names from the payroll, under-payment of pensions, delayed pensions and non-payment of arrears and gratuity”. They expressed sadness, as they have always done, about so many of their colleagues who had died without collecting their delayed gratuities and pensions. All this is happening even as more than ¦ 300bn was stolen from pension funds by one man in the pension house of horror This is a sin from which several curses rained on the present government may be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse. To be a pensioner in Nigeria is like being sentenced to death by hanging!

    I have said that the curses of pensioners, dead and alive, are troubling Nigeria, especially the curses of several thousands who had died without receiving their gratuities and pensions. Now, if it takes from 20 to 40 years to reverse a curse, how many years would it take to reverse thousands of curses by dead and living pensioners? From the look of things, I had suggested that instead of prayers about which Nigeria is well known, she should first do the following as a nation of incurable sinners (1) acknowledge her sins as committed by people in government (2) confess these sins (3) repent and (4) ask for forgiveness before we embark on any prayers, like the “Nigeria prays” by Gowon, or those by clerics the Adeboyes, Oyedepos, Kumuyis, Wale Okes, Olukoyas, Areoguns and the likes, before our prayers could be answered (see my write-up entitled “Okonjo-Iweala and Pensioners, in the Nation, June 29, 2014, p18”). Afterall, we are often told that we cannot live in sins and expect the blessings of God to multiply. For this reason, I wrote that Nigeria should ask for forgiveness first before embarking on any aggressive prayers and night vigils for a country whose sins are probably more serious than those of Sodom and Gomorrah.

    Forgiveness: Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation

    When I sent my write-up to a young pastor, friend of mine, Pastor Kayode Ojo of the Word of Faith Ministries, Mayfair, Ile-Ife, he sent me an appropriate and useful document which confirmed my call for Nigerian leaders to ask for forgiveness before going into aggressive prayers and night vigils for which we are hypocritically known. The document is contained in a book titled, Shaping History Through Prayers and Fasting, authored by Derek Prince and published by Whitaker House, New Kensington, USA, 1973, pp 333-335. The document consists of a proclamation by the famous former president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln. This document consists of “Three Fasts Proclaimed by Lincoln”. During his presidency, Lincoln “proclaimed three days of national humiliation, prayer, and fasting. His first proclamation (out of three) was requested by a joint committee of both houses and congress, and the day set apart was the last Thursday in September 1861.

    The following is only a part of the first  proclamation:”Whereas it is fit and becoming on all people, at all times, to acknowledge and reverse the Supreme Government of God; to bow in humble submission to his chastisements; to confess and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and to pray, with all fervency and contrition, for the pardon of their past offences, and for a blessing upon their present and prospective action…” And it continues:

    “Therefore I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States do appoint the last Thursday of September next as a day of Humiliation, Prayer and Fasting, for all the people of the nation. And I do earnestly recommend to all the people, and especially to all ministers and teachers of religion, of all denominations, and to all heads of families, to observe and keep that day, according to their several creeds and modes of worship, in all humility, and with all religious solemnity, to the end that the united prayer of the nation may ascend to the Throne of Grace, and bring down plentiful blessings upon our country”. Note that the inscription on the US dollar is “In God we trust”.

    Nigeria needs atonement, forgiveness and restitution to clear the sins of massive corruption, impunity, unemployment, deaths of innocent people through official killings, abduction of 220 innocent children by the uncontrollable Boko Haram, deaths from extreme poverty, hunger and delay or non-payment of pensioners’ and workers’ salaries as at when due; deaths from lack of potable water, electricity supply (many people have died from generator fumes as a result of power outage) good health care and other evils that have triumphed under the watch of president Jonathan’s government. For this reason, I suggest that General Buhari and Prof. Osinbajo should, in the first instance and before election, declare a day for all lovers of APC to ask for God’s forgiveness for the atrocities committed by the present federal government in order to clear the way for a new APC government by sweeping away, with their anointed symbolic brooms, the atrocities committed, in the eyes of God and Nigerians, by the present administration. This is necessary for Buhari and Osinbajo in order to off-load or cancel the many sins committed by the present government so that they (Buhari/Osinbajo) could begin their own era under a clean slate. Fortunately, Gen. Buhari and Prof. Osinbajo are deeply religious people, godly, honest, disciplined and incorruptible and so would be the kind of people in which God is well pleased. Shortly after their assumption of duty as President and Vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, they should make a proclamation to Nigerians, in the manner of Abraham Lincoln, by asking for forgiveness of offences of past leaders, and for God’s blessings upon their reign as well as blessings upon Nigeria and Nigerians. That is the only way our prayers could be answered and the Gordian knot untied. Perhaps, then, God would touch the heart of President Obama to visit Nigeria, the gigantic dwarf of Africa. This could only happen as a result of the CHANGE (including JUSTICE) which the APC stands for, and which would bring an already battered Nigeria to greatness and the dawn of a shining light.

     

    •Prof.  Makinde, FNAL

    is DG/CEO, Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance

    Osogbo, the State of Osun.