Anger In Ogun As Redeemed Chucrh Dumps 120 Destitute In Abeokuta
LAGOS MAY 24TH (NEWSRANGERS)-There was anxiety in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital on Wednesday as over 120 destitutes allegedly evacuated from the worshiping center of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), located at the Redemption Camp, along the Lagos – Ibadan expressway were dumped in the ancient Egba city.
The destitutes, comprising of couples with their children, middle-age men and women as well as the aged were allegedly raided from the worshiping ground of the Christian religious body and were dumped in three different locations of Abeokuta metropolis around 2am Thursday morning. Their unannounced presence in major streets of Abeokuta metropolis however, ignited angers amidst the rumours that the destitutes had been used for money making rituals before they were eventually dumped in the city under the cover of the night.
The development caused palpable fear and tension among residents of Oke-Sokori, Kuto and Iyana-Motuary areas of Abeokuta metropolis most of who rained curses on government and security agencies for not doing enough to get all ritualists’ den across the state clean.
Some of the affected destitutes, who spoke with Leadership newspaper however, accused the RCCG leadership of victimising them without sympathy for their spiritual needs and conditions. R.C.C.G raid victims, most of who claimed to have spent between six months to a year, explained that the RCCG Security operatives in conjunction with the police personnel indiscriminately rounded them up around Wednesday midnight during the vigil service and forcefully thrown them into a waiting vehicle that eventually brought them to Abeokuta.
One of the victims, a 38-year old business man and native of Nnewi North Local Government of Anambra state, Emmanuel Obi claimed that he was in the camp for the Holy Ghost Service and he left his wife at the Redemption camp while he went to Lagos state to buy goods, but was surprised to hear that his wife and their six months old baby had been raided and kept in police custody at the Redemption Camp, hence, his decision to join them upon return.
While a 42 years old native of Abia state, Priscilla Okonkwo, who cuddled a two years old daughter came to the RCCG Camp from Ajangbadi, Lagos state because of her accommodation problem got evicted, another visually impaired Maria Akan from Ogoja in Cross River state, who had being at the Camp for about a year now, was also among those evicted from the Camp.
In a phone interview with Leadership Correspondent, RCCG Head of the Media, Pastor Olaitan Olubiyi denied the allegation that the church forcefully ejected the destitutes from its midst. Olubiyi said what the church did was simply to carry out a purge towards ensuring that miscreants and others with criminal tendencies do not infiltrate the camp.
“We have a system through which we screen those who genuinely come for prayers. We also have an approved way of taking care of the destitutes in the Church of God.
“Whenever anyone comes for prayer, we do ensure that we properly document their data in our register to prevent criminal situations. But those ones you see illegally found their ways into the church. Some of them were screened for the purpose of knowing their challenges and those with genuine accommodation problems were assisted. But you’ll discover that they change their addresses and still return to the church”.
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Posted by News Rangers
on May 23 2019. Filed under National.
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