Superintendent of New Covenant Church in Benin, Rev Felix
Omobude has called on the acclaimed Ogboni clergy, Pastor
Solomon Oladimeji to desist from making statements capable
of tarnishing the body of Christ.
Saturday Sun in its last edition had published the story of the
65 year-old pastor who claimed to be the founder of Cherubim
and Seraphim Church, Orisun-Ayo, with branches at Alapere,
Ketu and Odogunyan in Ikorodu area of Lagos. In the report, he
claimed that he belongs to Saala Ogboni Fellowship of Nigeria
(SOFN) within the fraternity where he occupies the position of
Oluwo and the third in command to the overall head of the
fraternity.
He had also claimed that many of the pastors within the
Orthodox and the Pentecostal fold are members of Ogboni
fraternity, adding that his membership of Ogboni is not only
approved by the C&S church in Nigeria but equally recognized
by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) while he dared
any pastor to refute his claim.
In his response to Oladimeii’s claims, the PFN President
observed that the controversial clergy is of the Cherubim and
Seraphim church and as such has no place in PFN. “Whether
they allow Ogboni pastor to be their prophet, that question will
better go to Cherubim and Seraphim organization. Secondly, he
indicted PFN members, alleging that some of them visit him in
search of power. If it is true, it means that people come to him
to ask for help to make their church grow and turn around to
speak against him. He should mention their names, PFN is
interested to know such a pastor that does that and belongs to
the PFN.
“If you look at the story and see the future of his church, you
will wonder why a pastor who claims to be giving other pastors
power to make their church grow cannot boast of a reasonable
population. He should use his congregation as a living
example. He is at liberty to mention the PFN members that
normally patronize them. There are structures in PFN that
handle such a situation. If a pastor is indicted, and upon
investigation, if it is found to be true, such a pastor will be
suspended,” Omobude stated.
In his own reaction, popular preacher and top leader in PFN,
Apostle Anselm Madubuko, Senior Pastor of Revival Assembly
Ministry, Lagos, dared Oladimeji to mention the names of
pastors that he claims are members of Ogboni fraternity. “If he
is sure of what he is talking about, then let him announce the
names of the pastors. There is no true man of God that
patronizes Ogboni except pastors like himself,” Madubuko
stated.
The Cherubim and Seraphim Movement in Nigeria, the
denomination which Oladimeji belongs to in its own reaction
dissociated the church from his claims insisting that he
doubles as a pastor in the church and also a leader of the
Ogboni fraternity.
Speaking on behalf of the church, the Deputy General
Secretary, Surulere district, Benjamin Alaka said that Oladimeji
is not a member of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement, Ayo
nio.
“Anyone can wake up and open a church with Cherubim and
Seraphim name. We are the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement
Church with headquarters in Kaduna. We have our branches
across the different states of Nigeria. We do not condone such
in our church therefore; he cannot be one of us. If you take a
closer look, you will discover that his own ends with Orisun-
Ayo while our own is Ayo nio.
It’s just like the different Baptist churches that are independent
of one another. We do not know him, hence he does not know
what he is talking about”, the church scribe explained.
Also dissociating himself and the church from Oladimeji’s
claim is the Pastor and Spiritual Head, Celestial Church of
Christ worldwide, Rev J K Owodunmi.
In his words:“I don’t believe that he is right. In Celestial Church
of Christ, it is not allowed for members of secret society to be a
member of a church. But when we talk of secret society, they
make it secret, so that they do not know who is who. Those we
know we dismiss, but if someone is a member and he does not
disclose that he is a member, we will not know. He remains
with us until God finds him out. Immediately we know that he is
a member of a secret society, we will excommunicate him.
“In section 93(1) of the church constitution, it is ordained by
the Holy Spirit that members of the Celestial Church of Christ
are forbidden to engage or participate in any form of idolatry,
fetish ceremony or cults, black magic and charms. There is
also section 103(1) of our constitution which states that a
worshipper desiring to become a member shall renounce
membership of all secret cult, societies and fraternities.
“ We should also differentiate between a member and
worshiper. One can worship with us but if he wants to become
member, then he must denounce all secret society and be
reformed. As soon as he gets baptised, all his sins are in the
past. He can be anything yesterday but once he is baptized we
regard him as clean and he can join us. He must have
relinquished membership of any secret cult. As I said that
when we talk about secret society, that means that nobody
knows. You can have 5000 members and 500 can be members
of a secret cult unknown to the church, but as soon as we
discover, we will show them the way out.”
Some other pastors whose views were sought on the
revelations by Pastor Oladimeji however refused to join issues
with the white garment cleric saying that such will further
promote his agenda.
Others who spoke to Saturday Sun on the matter refused to
have their names in print insisting that ignoring Pastor
Oladimeji will be the only way to stop the spread of what they
described as falsehood and an attempt to ridicule the body of
Christ.
One of them who is the General Overseer of his church and
referred to as a Bishop said: “If this issue came up during the
days when people were not enlightened, there will be a need to
respond to his blasphemy. Nigerians and Christians across the
globe are wise and literate enough to read the bible and
interpret it.
“Even among the Catholic, they carry bible these days unlike
when it was just based on what the priest said. A lot of people
are running into the church because it has dawned on them
after testing different fetish homes. I am not saying that there
are no bad eggs among pastors, all I am saying is that
Nigerians are too wise to be deceived by wrong doctrines
“You cannot be a child of light and associate with Ogboni
people. The scripture cannot be bent. It is left for Christians to
choose whose doctrine they believe in. The bible is there as a
guide for anyone who choses to obey.”
Yet another pastor and a founder of a church with branches
across the 36 states of Nigeria dared the Ogboni pastor to
mention the names of those whom he has seen in their
meetings. “He is looking for cheap publicity, by dragging
pastors into unconfirmed stories just to discourage Christians.
If pastors actually come to him for powers to increase their
ministries why has he not increased the number of his
followers in Cherubim and Seraphim? If it is true that people
get results in Ogboni why do they still seek the truth in other
churches?
On why he does not want his name or picture on the pages of
newspaper, he said: “It should not be on record that I was the
one who responded to his allegation. It will only make him
popular. Let Christians who have access to the word of God be
the judge.”
Yet another popular pastor in Lagos accused Oladimeji of
taking advantage of religion to sell himself to the world. “Such
is common in Benin and whenever they are in procession, they
hide their faces from people. If they are not devilish, why
should they hide their faces? The gospel of the Lord has
suffered all kinds of war and still stands strong. These are
people we pray and bind every day. Light and darkness have
nothing to do with each other. Therefore no Christian should
respond to such blasphemy. I am not saying that some pastors
do not visit them; it is possible because every profession has
its fake, even among journalists. He does not need anyone’s
permission to mention names, if he has a proof. I do not
expect any of the Christian bodies to respond to his accusation
because that will only spread his devilish gospel. We have
seen a lot of things in the work of the kingdom and truth will
always prevail.”
source: The sun & naijagospel
#tags: omobude oritsejafor PFN CAN cherubim and seraphim
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