23rd October, 2016
The Edo District Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Dr Joel Okogele, on Sunday urged peace between the two conflicting factions of the Assemblies of God Church.
Okogele made this call at a special unity/rally service held at the district’s prayer ground in Oluku, near Benin.
At the service tagged, “Enough is Enough”, the district superintendent said that the three-year-old leadership crisis had affected the church membership and mandate – soul winning.
He added that the tussle had resulted in courts cases, constituting an embarrassment to the church.
Okogele appealed that the leadership structure of the church before the crisis be retained for peace to reign.
“We will no longer take this; this crisis and in-fighting must stop now. We are saying enough is enough. This crisis has lingered for too long.
“Assemblies of God Church has become an object of ridicule before the public. In police stations, courts and among the public, people now see us and ask: Have you come again?
“We have even gone to Sharia Court where we are not supposed to go.
“In one of the court hearings, the judge said that if we could not listen to man, then we should take it to God. This is how far we have gone in this crisis.
“We are taking it to God because the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria have at different times tried to intervene but the leadership of these bodies were rebuffed by those bent on taking over the leadership positions of the church through the back door.
“For us, Assemblies of God Church is one; we do not have two Assemblies of God. The one we know and belong to is the one under the leadership of Prof. Paul Emeka.
“Dr Chidi Okoroafor should go back to his position as the Deputy Superintendent,’’ he said.
At the special unity/rally service, hundreds of the church members carried placards with various inscription, calling for peace.