KILLINGS: Adeboye fears 2019 polls may not hold, Nigeria may cease to exist

The General Overseer (GO) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has expressed fears over the possibility of 2019 general elections not holding and the continued existence of Nigeria as a country.

The cleric on Friday urged the Federal Government to quickly end the killings of Christians and others in some part of the North if it truly wants people to come and vote in the 2019 general elections, and for the country to continue to exist.

The cleric who stated this during the May 2018 Holy Ghost service, added that “unless the killings stopped there may not be elections in 2019 in Nigeria.”

He told the large crowd of worshippers at the Redemption Camp and in several viewing centers across the globe, that he felt so week in far away Germany, when he learnt about the attack at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Ukpor-Mbalom Parish, Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State, which left two Catholic priests and 17 parishioners butchered in a gruesome manner by suspected herdsmen.

The killing, he said threw him into a sad mood, warranting his wife, Folu, to express worries over why he was not as cheerful as he used to be.

“I said (to my wife) there is no father who would lose 19 children in a day that will not be quiet. She said what do you mean, because she hadn’t heard the news that in a church, somebody went in and shot 19 people.

“It doesn’t matter the denomination…by the special grace of God, all Christians in Nigeria call me daddy. So when any of them dies, it’s my son or daughter that is dead.

“As a leader people from various denominations call Daddy, the 27 people killed were my children who were in a church or returning from a church programme.”

He then told his congregation, “I am going to ask you to join me in prayer, because unless these killings stop, and stop immediately, even Nigeria may not live. I am not talking about individuals now, I am talking about Nigeria itself…

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“A bishop asked me not too long ago, ‘Daddy, has God told you who will win the next election?’ I said, Sir, I am not even sure yet there will be an election, because unless these killings stop there may be no elections next year.”

He said that the bishop had asked him ‘Are you prophesying, Daddy?’ but that he replied “No, no! I am not prophesying. I am just reasoning. Because nobody will want to go out to vote if they are not sure they will be able to return home safely.”

Noting that he has seen war at close quarters and knows that there is nothing good about war, he added, “it’s a terrible thing. A nation may survive a civil war, but no nation can survive a religious war and remains the same. That Nigeria may live these killings must stop.

“So all of you who love Nigeria, I want you to rise on your feet, and cry to God with all your heart, and say: Father, let the killings stop.”

 

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