Church crises in Nigeria are not new. But those that have been
prolonged by the protagonists had cast aspersion on the image of the various
denominations concerned.
One of the churches that have been engulfed by crisis is the
Assemblies of God Church Nigeria, which is faced with an unending leadership
tussle.
The crisis in the church has become a source of concern to the
worshipers as it has polarized the hitherto one formidable body of Christ.
Sunday Sun investigations showed that the three-year-old crisis,
which began on March 6, 2014 following the purported removal of the General
Superintendent (GS) of the church, Rev. Prof. Paul Emeka, is not abating.
Lingering court cases have worsened the crisis, which has now
taken a new twist as the church presently operates two headquarters; one headed
by the new helmsman, Rev Dr Chidi Okoroafor and another by his presumed
predecessor, Rev Prof Paul Emeka.
Since the embattled GS, Rev Emeka was bundled out of the
national headquarters of the Assemblies of God Church located on Ozubulu Street
Independent Layout, Enugu on March 29, 2017 by operatives of the Enugu State
Police Command, with the backing of the Nigerian Army, he has moved his office
to the New Haven branch of the Church also in Enugu, where he now holds sway as
a parallel GS to Dr Okoroafor.
Indeed, as some of the worshippers believe that where the bishop
is that is where the church is, thus they believe that it is immaterial where
the GS stays.
“Anywhere Rev Emeka stays that is the headquarters of the Assemblies
of God Nigeria”, one of the Rev. Emeka’s supporters told Sunday Sun.
But Rev Okoroafor’s supporters countered by saying that Rev
Emeka was gone for good and the church is now moving on well with Rev Okoroafor
as its new GS.
When this reporter visited the national secretariat of the
church last week, fierce-looking mobile policemen were seen guarding the
secretariat while the new headquarters occupied by Rev. Emeka was accessible to
people without hindrance.
Also a visit to most of the branches of the church in Enugu
State in particular and the South-East zone in general revealed that the
members of the church are now divided into three groups; those loyal to Rev.
Okoroafor; those loyal to Prof. Emeka and those who are neutral.
Those loyal to Okoroafor are no longer worshiping in their
various church centres as most of them have relocated to primary school
premises for their Sunday worships and other activities while those that do not
find alternative places of worship share time of Sunday services like was
observed at Mount Street, Enugu branch of the church.
However, the adherents who are still with Rev. Emeka have
remained at their various church centres with those who are neutral.
As the crisis has been worsened by litigations and
counter-litigations, some members of the church who spoke to Sunday Sun
expressed fear that if it was not quickly resolved the church could split into
two main autonomous entities.
While some of them expressed doubt the church could be one
again, some others maintained that there was nothing God could not do.
The majority of the adherents believed that the crisis was
avoidable, but was sustained by envy and lust for materialism, especially on
the part of Dr Okoroafor-led group, which they accused of refusing all
entreaties made for peaceful resolution of the matter.
A member of the church, Mr Ndu Nwamuo told Sunday Sun that the
crisis was actually blown open in 2014.
“It blew open so that people began to know actually what was
happening in the church, but within our leaders there were intrigues among the
hierarchy which we didn’t know until the event of March 6, 2014,” he said.
Going down memory lane to trace the origin of the crisis, Nwamuo
said: “The man (Dr. Charles Osueke) who retired in 2010 precisely as General
Superintendent actually did not like the man who succeeded him as he was not
his anointed successor. From that point the problem started.”
He explained that the retired GS while in office had instituted
a body called ‘the Ambassadors of the Kingdom,’ which body, he said, was not
known by the constitution of the church.
This, he said, laid the foundation of the crisis.
“The Ambassadors of the Kingdom was neither the policy makers,
policy formulators nor the policy implementers,” Nwamuo said, stressing that
immediately Dr Osueke retired his ambassadors wanted to hijack the church.
“They now formed what they called ‘consultative forum’ which was
not only the Ambassadors of the Kingdom, but all the prominent men in the
Assemblies of God Church were co- opted to become members of the so-called
‘consultative forum,’ which will now direct the church on what to do and what
not to do.
“So when the successor, Rev. Paul Emeka came, he actually wanted
to have his way; a way he felt will bring out result and carry the church along.
“The ambassadors were not comfortable with that move; to them,
they saw him as trying to scrap or lay-off the Ambassadors of the Kingdom and
from there the problem started. Their first attack was a petition against Rev.
Emeka; between 16 and 26 issues were leveled against him.
“While he wrote out answers to the petition, they didn’t want
him to present them, instead they called a General Committee meeting.”
According to Nwamuo, in the Assemblies of God, for a General
Committee meeting to be held, 33 per cent of the units must approve the holding
of the meeting through a document signed by them and which the GS, who whether
he likes it or not, must call for the meeting.
“These people came up with that idea, saying that they have
consulted, and got more than 33 per cent signatories required, but they didn’t
bring it to the GS because they were afraid that if he saw the signatories, he
will use it to intermediate the people concerned.
“The constitution says lay it before the GS and he is obligatory
to call for the meeting once 33 per cent of the constituency signed for the
meeting, but the Ambassadors of the Kingdom said no to this constitutional
requirement and called for the meeting.
“The constitutional provision was that the GS should convene and
preside over the meeting, but they rather brought retired GS (Dr Osueke) to
preside over the meeting in exclusion of the serving GS (Rev Emeka).
“But this man chaired it because of the old animosity which he
had for Rev Emeka and didn’t want him to be. There and then, on that same day
of March 6, 2014, they decided that he has been suspended, dismissed and
de-fellowship. That was how the crisis set in.
“So, since March 6, 2014, the Assemblies of God has never been
the same again,” Nwamuo narrated.
He, however, said that the crisis could be resolved only when
the people behind the actors are willing to get it resolved, saying that it
would not be an easy task to resolve.
He pointed out that “three different bodies have come to resolve
it, but could not due to the fact that some people have made up their mind that
it is either this way or never.”
According to him, “the first people who stepped into this matter
were the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and after discussions, both
parties were asked to return on a date all of them agreed, but till date the
Rev. Okoroafor-led group never returned and that was the end of the PFN
intervention.
“As the crisis lingered, the Christian Association of Nigeria
(CAN) came in and they suffered the same treatment meted out to the PFN. After
that, some eminent members of the church, who I will mention two or three
names; somebody like Senator Sam Egwu, Senator Ogbuoji and others went to Dr
Osueke, Paul Emeka and Rev Chidi Okoroafor, who all accepted their proposal to
resolve this problem outside any other group.
“Regrettably, on the fixed date, Dr Okoroafor was conspicuously
absent. Everything now is directed to God. The bottom line from my own
calculation is that they want Paul Emeka out. They believe that if they move
him out the problem will be over.”
But Nwamuo also reasoned that removing Rev Emeka would not solve
the problem as he said that opinions have been formed and a lot of people are
following him.
Hear him: “If you remove him and maybe install Rev Okoroafor
that may be the beginning of another round of crisis. As a person if you ask
me, both Okoroafor and Emeka should be retired from the active service of the
church.
“With both retired, I believe Assemblies of God can be one
again, but if you say Paul Emeka go and Chidi Okoroafor remain, the crisis will
continue.”
Another worshiper of the church, Elder Sydney Edeji, told Sunday
Sun that the crisis threatening to destroy the AG, which hitherto was
organized, was envy and lust for materialism on the part of their leaders.
Corroborating the narrative of Mr Nwamuo, Edeji said: “We have a
constitution that guides the running of the church and somebody felt that
because of his privileged position he can now be the god of the church.”
He pointed out that Dr Osueke led the Assemblies of God Nigeria
for 22 years and his successor was voted in massively, pointing out that Rev.
Emeka scored over 4,000 votes on the day of the election and his assistant,
Rev. Okoroafor scored 700 votes.
“The church should be law-abiding, constitution of Assemblies of
God should guide us, and the constitution of the country, the laws of the land
should guide us because we preach to our members to respect the law.”
For Elder Edeji, the only possible solution to resolving the
matter was for both parties to agree and obey the law.
“The judiciary is the last hope of the common man and the court
has been trying to give us judgment that will help us resolve this matter, but
the group led by Dr Okoroafor has made up their mind not to work with Rev
Emeka.
“So, if they can bend down and follow the rule of the law, obey
what the law is saying there will be peace because all the bishops in Enugu at
one point in time intervened, but to no avail. I feel the solution should be to
wait for the court to pronounce its verdict on the matter,” he said.
Another member of the church, Mr Ahiabuike Egbulonu expressed
optimism that the crisis would end one day, saying that it was not beyond God
despite the fact that before the eyes of men it appears impossible to resolve.
“What is happening now in the Assemblies of God Church is as a
result of mistrust and dishonesty,” Egbulonu explained, adding that “the basic
principle that brought us together is following the truth. Outside the truth
and justice I don’t think God is interested in the crowd”.
Another faithful of AG, Elder Richard Nwaebi, said that it was
regrettable that the level AG leaders have taken the crisis left him to ponder
if the church was no longer the church of God.
According to him, the possibility of resolving the crisis
remains slim as he alleged that they are all after earthly things instead of
serving God and humanity.
“I must tell you that the situation appears gloomy, those at the
head are not interested in coming down to make peace as children of God”,
Nwaebi said, stressing that retiring all the principal actors from the ministry
would have been the best solution, but “I’m afraid who among them is ready to
step outside”.
For Ode Egbe Jaius, who hails from Bayelsa, said: “The church
has been together and all of us agreed to the changes, but only a few
individuals felt that they have been injured and start fighting.”
Ode believes that one of them stepping aside for the other will
be the beginning of another crisis as he said “I don’t believe in anybody
stepping down, the right thing to do is when you have done a wrong thing you
should come and correct it. You don’t plan a coup d’état in the church, but if
those who planned the coup will come back and reason together there will be
peace and they will be forgiven.”
Mrs Ohaha Charity Onah, a member of the church also told Sunday
Sun that the crisis in AG would at the end of the day unite the church and make
it stronger.
“I see the possibility because with God all things are
possible,” she said, adding that asking Rev Emeka or Rev. Okoroafor to step
aside is out of it.
Also a member of the church, who is sympathetic to Rev Okoroafor
that does not want his name on print told Sunday Sun that though there was
problem in the church, the AG remained one body that can never be divided by
anybody, not even Rev Emeka.
He said that Prof Emeka was the cause of the crisis in AG,
stressing that Dr Okoroafor has no personal matter with him.
According to him, Emeka was having issues with the General
Council (GC) and not with Rev Okoroafor as some people mistakenly assumed.
“The GC is the highest decision-making body in the Assemblies of
God Church. The case of Emeka can be likened to the case of Saul and David. The
glory of God has departed from Emeka and God has found favour in Dr Chidi
Okoroafor. And like Saul fought David and lost, so shall Rev. Emeka lose,” he
said.
He claimed that the problem between Emeka and the GC was caused
as Emeka allegedly violated the rules and regulations of the church for which
he was punished.
“He committed an offence that when committed in the Assemblies
of God, you will be given the back-seat and he was given the back-seat, but he
refused to serve the punishment.
“Some members who are following him do not understand what is
going on, that is the reason they are still with him. Time is coming when he
will leave the church because AG was there before he came. It is not a one-man
church, if you sin and continue to sin there is no way AG will accept you back.
It would be better for Paul Emeka to go and establish his own church and leave
AG alone. He doesn’t want to be under the general council and everybody knows
that he is politicizing the church.
He accused Emeka of bringing crisis to the church to the extent
that other churches are warning him to desist, but he refused.
He also said that Rev Emeka left God he should run to in time of
crisis and went to the court.
“One of his major offences now was dragging the church to court,
which our rules forbid. He took the AG to court whereas the Bible says that
nobody should take his brother to court. When he was told that he committed an
offence instead of coming to resolve it like a brethren, he took the church to
court and this is his greatest undoing”.
At Olive Grove Secondary School, Njamanze where the members
loyal to Dr. Okoroafor have relocated for their church services, a women who
doesn’t want name mentioned told Sunday Sun that “the crisis in AG has since
been put to rest through the judgment of the Supreme Court. So, as long as I am
concerned there are no more crises in AG”.
But Mr Paul Ude, who worships at the mount church, said: “There
is no gainsaying the obvious that the AG is in deep crisis, but I believe that
our GS (Dr Okoroafor) has started to reconcile members. I am aware that he has
extended the olive branch to Prof Emeka through one of us and he has agreed to
restore those who are with Prof Emeka that were sacked and pay them in full”.
Ude expressed optimism that the AG would come out stronger after
the great trial.
When contacted on phone, Rev Dr Chidi Okoroafor retorted: “I do
not know what you stand to gain and who detailed you on the image of the church.
I know even in the family there could be misunderstanding, but these matters
are being resolved and meetings are being held to be able to put things where
they should be.”
Describing the situation as very unfortunate to have developed
to where it is, Rev Okoroafor said: “But I don’t think it is what anybody
will take glory in publishing, but what I know is that meetings are being
held and general olive branch is being granted to people to reconcile this
matter and the process is ongoing by the grace of God.”
He charged this reporter to also report the positive aspect of
the church, stressing that “God is doing a lot of things and, of course, you
know that over 90 per cent of the Assemblies God worshippers are intact.
“All the institutions of the church and the Bible School are
intact under the General Council, the university is under the General Council,
the AG Mortgage Bank is under the General Council and the national headquarters
of the church is under the General Council.”
He, however, said that “no matter what happens in life you must
have few sympathizers and we continue to call on those few sympathizers to
return to the main line of the church.
“As I told you, the Assemblies of God church has extended olive
branch to those people to be able to return to the mainstream of the church.
“You may begin to ask why that division at the time, it is
because when the main line of the church discovered that some people were
interested in thuggery, shedding of blood and causing havoc.
“We said we cannot allow blood and thuggery to go on, that was
why some of the brethren have to leave and started worshipping elsewhere.”
Also when contacted, Rev Paul Emeka told Sunday Sun that
he was desirous to see that the church was united, stressing that “the church
is God’s church and in mysterious way, God will one day unite the church
again.”
Rev Emeka explained that the difference between them was that
the other people would claim that the matter has ended without them, “but when
you come to us, we say that the matter has not ended.
“We recognized the fact that there are two factions and my
desire is that the two factions will come together.
“If you come to Assemblies of God like every other denomination
you will meet hierarchies; there are the commoners, people who come to church
to worship, but there are the leaders who don’t only worship, but they also
make monetary gains and those people occupying high positions.
“This is one of the reasons that led them to do what they did,
to try to remove me was in order to distribute positions among themselves
illegally, though they did that and they know that my coming back to get united
with them will mean that they have to drop those positions they acquired
illegally.
“That is why they don’t want, they will always say that the
Supreme Court has given ruling when it is known to everybody that Supreme Court
never gave that kind of judgment, but they want to make people believe that,
that is the truth.
“Thank God that the bubble is busting and people know the truth
now and they can’t hide the truth anymore.”
Rev. Emeka who expressed optimism for the church to become one
united entity again said “it is my utmost desire that the two factions in the
church will come together.
“It is possible because God owns the church and in the
mysterious way he will bring us together,” he said, stressing that “already we
are seeing signs by what he is doing even in the court right now that the truth
is emerging.
“It is this truth that will bring the church together. It is
like the body, the body has skeletons made up of bones, but we also have flesh
and skin; if the skeleton or the bones are not there, the flesh and the skin
cannot stand.
“The facts/truth in the court which is being brought out is the
real facts/truth that hold the church together. So, you cannot just come and
say ‘Ah! No’ the church is united when you are not in the truth and so the
truth is the foundation and every other thing is superstructure and the
decoration”.
Rev Emeka explained that any house its foundation was laid upon
falsehood no matter the superstructure build upon it with decorations it will
surely collapse one day, stressing that what the other group, referring to Rev
Okoroafor’s group, are doing was not of the church.
“The church must be based on truth and that is what we are
doing. By the grace of God as soon as the truth has come out and whether they
like it or not, it has now been established by the court of law.
“That is the truth and we are united, those other people who are
seeking positions if they don’t like to come they will have to go because they
can’t disobey what the law says.
“The commoners who sincerely have come to worship God will come
and begin to worship. And so when we talk of the church getting reunited, we
are not really talking of the leaders coming, the leaders have vested interest
in positions and money and may not like to, but the people who will come to
worship God will come and worship and in so doing, the church is getting
reunited. I believe strongly that the church will be united”, he explained.
As the members keep waiting, the controversy of who is the
authentic GS of the church still lingers on after the Supreme Court ruling on
August 2017 on the matter.
While Dr Okoroafor still claims that the apex court had sacked
Rev Emeka through the 2017 ruling, Prof Emeka also contends that the court did
not give any judgment relating to his sack.
#Copied
Credit:
# Raphel Ede, Enugu
Sunday Sun Newsonline
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