Editor's note: The
executive secretary of a civil society in Nigeria, Centre for Social
Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET), Ikpa Isaac has written an
open letter to Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka, Temitope Joshua and other
men of God in Nigeria.
Ikpa in his letter called on the men of God to intervene and caution other clerics against the use of hate speeches in Nigeria.
Ikpa's
open letter comes on the heels of the comment made by the founder of
Omega Fire Ministries Apostle Johnson Suleman calling on his church
members to kill any Fulani herdsman that tries to attack them.
Open Letter to the Spiritual Director,
Adoration Ministry, Enugu State, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka and the Founder,
Synagogue Church Of All Nations, (SCOA) Pastor TB Joshua and other
anointed men of God in Nigeria on the topic; “Hate sermons: Urgent need
for prayers and understanding,” in the light of prevailing religious
tensions In Nigeria.
My Dearest Lordships;
1.
We send you fraternal and warm greetings from our secretariat in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ and pray Almighty God to keep blessing
you with strength and wisdom as you serve the quest of Nigerians and the
rest of mankind for salvation.
2. By way of brief introduction, Center
For Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJECT) is a
Non-governmental, Non-Profit, Non-partisan and Non-religious
organization based in Nigeria. We are basically concerned with advocacy
for social justice, equity and fairness as well as monitor ethics of
transparency in public governance.
3.
We have observed with bewilderment recent events in our dear country,
Nigeria and after a thorough analysis, we have come to the painful
conclusion that current happenings in Nigeria are quite unpleasant. And
there is the imperative for collective actions to nip in the bud, any possibility of potential mass conflicts and crisis likely to sprout from it.
4.
My Lordships, you are already aware Nigeria is on the cliffhanger at
the moment; burdened by agitations, mutual distrust and suspicions,
viral criminality as well as crises of all dimensions, which in some
cases, have mutated into violent conflicts.
5.
The federal government of Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari
has been strained and overstretched in its attempts to contain the
crises in different parts of the country in the face of dwindling
economic fortunes.
Therefore, we were perplexed to
notice the infusion of a delicate and extremely sensitive issue like
religion into the troubling afflictions of the country.
6.
We consider it particularly very urgent to write you this open
letter based on our understanding of your respectful status in
Christendom in Nigeria.
We are equally encouraged by our implied assumption that you are aware of certain supposed “Men of God” who
have stoke the fire of discord and overheated the polity with bile
sermons, utterances and discussions from the pulpit which have a strong
potency to spark religious crisis of genocidal magnitude in Nigeria.
7.
Initially, this organization was not too worried with the divisions
publicly manifest in the disorderliness, in-fighting and leadership
tussles which have characterized the Body of Christ in Nigeria in recent
times.
We had hoped the concerned
leaders would devote time and energy to resolve these internal squabbles
in the nearest future in the interest of Christianity.
8.
But we cannot pretend not to know that this negative trend has not
only spiraled outside of the Body of Christ in Nigeria, but pulling the
strings very hard in attempts to destroy Nigeria by pitching members of
one faith against another.
9. On the
front burner of national issues today is the acerbic sermons and
utterances credited to Apostle Johnson Suleiman of the Omega Ministries,
which has generated very fearful and deadly interpretations between
adherents of Christianity and Islam across the nooks and crannies of
Nigeria. He is not alone in these hate and inciting sermons from the
altar.
10.
But Apostle Suleiman’s inciting comments happen to be the trouble at
the moment. Initially, he opposed the Bill on prohibiting extreme
religious views or preachment sponsored in Kaduna state and placed a
curse of death on Governor Nasir el-Rufai. But it never bothered anybody
because it had personal effect.
But
invoking the powers of God Almighty to herd Christians into killing and
beheading all Fulani herdsmen at sight is not only ungodly, but mocks
the thinking of orthodox Christianity and reflects more the thoughts
and actions of Nigeria’s external enemies bent on destabilizing the
country by causing crisis of genocidal proportion in Nigeria, worse than
Somalia or Sudan. In his latest outing, we can see a nexus in his still
opposition to the Bill.
11. Calling
for the mass killings of members of an ethnic group- the Fulani
herdsmen, who pasture their cattle because of the transgressions of a
few criminals suspected to be their kinsmen, is tantamount to
exterminating a whole race.
This action
would also be interpreted in Christian ethos as battling against flesh
and blood, which true servants of God, (including you) have repeatedly
warned us that we cannot win any war against the spirit.
12. Similarly, we deem it
extremely bad faith the tendency of some anointed and venerated clergy,
who are advocating for the extra-judicial killing of Boko Haram
terrorists in the presumption that they launched war against
Christianity. But the same Boko Haram insurgents also killed fellow
Muslims in their rage of raids.
The
bickering in the aftermath of the split in Boko Haram leadership
between Abubakar Shekau and Abu Musab Al Barnewi sufficiently placed
this notion in public domain. But in all, does it not betray the essence
of being a good brother's keeper, love of neighbor and respect for
sanctity of human life as decreed by God Almighty for anointed men of
God to mount the pulpit to preach internecine wars with the religious
card?
13. We believe Apostle Suleiman
is acting the script of external enemies by inciting Christians in
Nigeria into a religious war. And he goes further to blackmail the
federal government into shielding himself by instigating Christians to
perceive his impending arrest and interrogation by security agents to
unearth the masked forces behind his actions as persecution of the church and Christians in Nigeria.
14. My Lordships, may you understand that it is germane for Apostle Suleiman and all other such “Men of God”
to know they are not above laws of Nigeria and should be humble
enough to submit themselves to security scrutiny. His confessions would
either enable security agencies investigate and track people who are
destabilization agents in Nigeria for external forces or exonerate him.
15.
We plead your understanding in using your respected positions and
statuses in talking to your congregations, adherents and followers not
to be hoodwinked by the likes of Apostle Suleiman and such “Men of God”
into deploying the anger they have deliberately instigated in Nigerian
Christians to shield themselves from probe of their suspicious and
ungodly acts.
16. We feel compelled to
write you because of the respect, honour, integrity and acceptance you
have earned amongst Christians and Muslims alike, within and outside
Nigeria. We perceive in you, anointed men of God with the best
credentials and wisdom to save the body of Christ at this crucial time
on this sensitive, but potentially explosive religious incitement.
We
are further encouraged by your non- discriminatory roles as father to
both the orphans, the vulnerable and the widows, much as banking on
your vast knowledge of humanitarian complexities countries face when
such religious matters are allowed to explode in violent clashes to promptly.
17.
If you kindly devote attention to this cause, you would save Nigeria
from a clearly masterminded plot to destroy our country by enemies
waiting in the wings to fuel genocide in the country on the platform of
religion.
Acting thus, you shall
also save the entire body of Christ from disintegrating and embarrassing
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who laid down His life for us.
18.
My Lordships’ would wish to remember that the break-up of Nigeria was
predicted for 2015, but the Almighty God saw us through the trying
times, but the same forces have not relented. Having studied the
sociological psychology of Nigerians on religion, they have realized
sparking a religions crisis would instantly actualize this prophesied
break-up.
The devil is surely at work and
we must put on our shield of prayers and not guns to overcome this
moment of torment to defeat the devil and his agents.
19.
My Lordships, God Almighty has bestowed the onus of avoiding the
looming calamity in the land in your hands, as His ordained servants.
Please,
do not let His children down, to inspire the Western world to laugh and
mock us, by allowing the crisis to erupt. Your congregations and
Nigerians indeed, listen and heed your words and advice, which beckons
to your immediate intervention to save your dear country from ruination.
It will be unfortunate if Christians
allow themselves to be used as the vehicle for bloodshed that would
lead to genocide, hunger and suffering of the ordinary masses of Nigeria
who are already pauperized and burdened in several ways.
20.
We appreciate you for the time you have spared in reading this open
epistle and we pray that may Almighty God give you the wisdom, foresight
and strength to keep serving him and humanity in His Grace to the best
of your ability.
21. Thank you very much and May Almighty God continue to bless you, Christians and the Church in Nigeria.
Comrade Ikpa Isaac
Executive secretary,
Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET)
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