Crisis within the Assemblies of God Church deepened last week after members left ongoing church service and vandalized the home of two executives at the church branch on 53 Accra Street, Wuse Zone 5 in Abuja.
It is learnt the two executives—an assistant pastor and a Sunday school teacher—do not ally with an Assemblies faction led by Chidi Okoroafor which has been pitted against a second faction led by Paul Emeka in their bid to claim the position of nationwide general superintendent of the church.
Both families have called on the federal government and Federation of Women Lawyers to intervene.
Joy Ukwu, wife of the assistant pastor, named two women among members who broke into their home on the church grounds.
As she tried to hold the mob back at the door, a man she identified as Lucky Aro shattered windows in the back of the house to gain entry.
Shards of glass showered on her preterm baby sleeping in bed, she said.
She displayed the blood-stained overalls the baby, hospitalized for treatment, had been wearing.
“They came with a man who introduced himself as a legal practitioner and when I asked him if what they were doing was lawful, he couldn’t respond,” she said.
“Mrs. Archibong and Mrs. Duru were among the vandals and despite pleading with their conscience to consider me and the preterm baby, they continued to insist that I should leave their way as they would not be held responsible for whatever happens to me or the baby. The police were watching them molesting me and a pre-term baby and they did nothing.”
The district superintendent of Wuse branch has been evicted in the three-year crisis, and interventions by Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) at national and state levels have not resolved the impasse.
Wife of the evicted district superintendent, Virginia Anyanwu, said issues surrounding the church leadership had degenerated such that the “body of Christ” in the church had been divided into factions.
Church members at different branches in Jabi and Gwarinpa have routinely caused public disturbance in their stance against their pastors who have refused to ally with the Okoroafor faction.
In the Wuse instance, they chanted war songs as they marched onto the premises. In another instance, hoisted a pastor’s wife naked overhead as they dragged her outside.
“If Christ were to be here, he would have been ashamed because the body of Christ is not supposed to be thwarted,” Anyanwu said of the latest incident.
“I am calling on the federal government, CAN, FIDA and other bodies of note to come to our rescue and that of this pre-term baby from the face of death.
“They should save us from Chidi Okoroafor and his men who have insisted that we must join them to remove the general superintendent, Rev. Prof Paul Emeka,” Anyanwu said.
“For those who have said they will not follow Chidi Okoroafor, for saying that, they have being victimised. They are suspended, removed, disfellowshiped, dismissed, or disowned. All these vocabulary I mentioned are all mentioned in the newspapers of which write-ups they sponsored.
“If you don’t see us again, just know that they have carried out their threats and have covered it up with the help of the people that can cover sin and evil. I’m crying as a mother because the injustice is too much,” she said.
