Still on the Farce in Pentecostal Churches

I have persistently challenged the military leadership to address welfare issues of our gallant soldiers on the frontline in the North-east. Unfortunately, Defence Chief, Abayomi Olonisakin and his service chiefs have failed to respond appropriately. Just as I had hitherto reported, army chief, Tukur Buratai, on Monday confirmed that our gallant soldiers are being owed operational allowances running into three months. Tukur remarked: “Funds have been released from the Ministry of Defence to pay the outstanding operational allowances of troops fighting Boko Haram for the third quarter of 2017. The army will this week begin the payment of allowances owed the troops for the last two months accordingly. This is coming from the good news of the release of funds for the payment of operational allowances and logistics for the third quarter of 2017 from the Ministry of Defence.” Olonisakin, Sadiq Abubakar and Buratai should be embarrassed that soldiers on the war front are being owed as low as N600 feeding stipend per day. These three military chiefs have no business staying a day longer in office, because they have betrayed the trust of our gallant soldiers.

It took a letter from one of the brave soldiers on the war front to Buhari, before these commanders could admit the backlog of unpaid operational allowances. The anonymous soldier, who claimed to be a private writing from Damaturu, alleged that the soldiers on the frontline were being poorly treated as a result of massive corruption in the army. He also exposed the numerous cases of soldiers injured on the battlefield and given little or no attention.

The brave soldier said in his letter to Buhari: “Your Excellency, corruption in the army is real and it is killing us. While we expect to die in the hands of the enemy, we don’t expect to die in the hands of the army, due to corruption and criminal negligence. Just the other week, about 14, (I am not sure of the exact number) of our colleagues died in the hands of Boko Haram who attacked their camp. The circumstances surrounding their unnecessary death warrant a full investigation by his Excellency. Sir, you will be shocked at the outcome. The bodies of the slain heroes are still lying here in Damaturu.

“This is the third month in a row that we have been denied of our operational allowance. We have to rely only on our meagre salary for everything. From battalion commanders to company and sector leaders, we are all in debt, because our salaries are not enough to sustain us at the battlefield, let alone feeding our families back at home. It is a big shame that we have joined the army to defend the civilians, yet we have to go to the civilians in town to borrow money to fend for ourselves at the battlefield. Here, at the battlefront in Operation Lafiya Dole, the army spends about N600 per day on a soldier’s feeding, while in reality, billions of Naira is appropriated per year for this purpose. Your Excellency, we are treated like animals. Most of us are afraid to talk because of the dire consequences.”

Let me reiterate that our gallant soldiers are still ill-equipped. This is why Boko Haram often overruns them. It is also for this reason that the terrorists easily sacked the Sasawa military post (near Damaturu) last month. I have spent the last 30 months drawing attention to this incongruity without result.

Because our soldiers are ill-equipped, Boko Haram strolled into Bakin Dutse village in Adamawa State on Monday, killed scores of people and even advanced to Gulak, the headquarters of Madagali Local Government Area before local hunters aided our gallant soldiers to stop them. Terrified residents of Bakin Dutse and Gulak have since fled the towns and are hiding in the bush, mountains, and hills around them. This morning, I am challenging Olonisakin and Buratai to relocate to Sasawa and Madagali respectively, and directly take charge of affairs.

More Pentecostal pastors are joining the inglorious trend of having armed guards in their convoy; some even have these guards with them on the pulpit. They stand at alert on the podium while the pastor preaches. Apostle Tom Samson, the General Overseer of Christ Royal Family International Church, Lagos and Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel are deep into this weird trend. They are more comfortable with their security in the hands of men. Clearly, these pastors preach conviction but have no faith. I have also noticed this trend of asking their entranced followers to sow seed with money so that they can become rich. Haba! This is advance fee scam. No wonder emphasis is on prosperity preaching and payment of tithe in these churches instead of salvation. They always invoke the Law of Moses to collect tithe and persistently threaten their followers not to join the few scrutinising them because “they are only answerable to God.” Our God is indeed merciful. On the flip side, the roforofo fight over money and property involving the founder and General Overseer of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Pastor Daniel Olukoya and two former pastors of MFM in the United States, should be an embarrassment to Christendom. For me, Christianity is about humility; it abhors materialism. But, here we have men of God fighting dirty over money and property. For those who have not been following the story, there is an ongoing lawsuit instituted in Maryland, USA, by MFM International against Lawrence Adetunji and Ronke Adetunji, two former pastors of MFM Bowie, Maryland. Also joined in the suit are 11 former members of MFM in Bowie, as well as Christ the Truth Ministries.

The former MFM members broke away to form Christ the Truth Ministries, and took with them the assets of MFM Bowie. Mr. and Mrs. Adetunji claimed that they worked for the assets and deserve to move with them to their new church. They took MFM’s properties, described as 5506 and 5503 Church Road in Bowie, Maryland, which were acquired in 2001 and 2004 respectively. For Olukoya, the property belongs to MFM headquarters by way of trust and should be returned to it. I quite agree with this submission. However, since Mr. and Mrs. Adetunji have clearly shown that they belong to Satan, I thought Pastor Olukoya would allow them to continue wallowing in deceit, hand them over to God and rebuild his church in the US from the scratch, instead of engaging in this worldly litigation. Unfortunately, Pastor Olukoya is also involved in this material roforofo fight. I don’t understand this kind of Christianity. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.