From: Kingdom News
To: info@kingdomnewsng.com
Sent: Wednesday, 13 April 2016, 21:54
Subject: PUNCH Fabricated Lies Against President of CAN
PUNCH Newspaper Fabricated Lies Against President Of CAN
The
National Secretariat of CAN has issued a rebuttal of an interview which
PUNCH Newspaper falsely claimed it had with the President of Christian
Association of Nigeria, his Eminence, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. In
refuting the malicious publication titled “I’m shocked when I read negative things about Jonathan – Oritsejafor” by PUNCH Newspaper on 10th April, 2016, the General Secretary of CAN, Rev. Dr. Musa Asake, wrote to Church leaders that “the
President of CAN did NOT make the statement credited to him as he did
not grant the interview in question. The PUNCH journalist, Nosa Akenzua,
is under strict obligation to explain how he came about the interview
that he credited to the President of CAN.”
In the interview, which was entirely fabricated by PUNCH newspaper, the President of CAN was quoted to have said, “…I
think the problem we have in the church is that a lot of these pastors
are not “men of God” as they were not called. They are mercenaries,
commercially minded people. The duty of the church is to preach morality
not materialism and because Nigerians are very gullible; they are easy
victims of deceit…” Many other equally contentious statements were
falsely credited to the President of CAN.
The
Legal Department of CAN has written PUNCH newspaper to retract the
story and apologize to both the President of CAN and the Nigerian
Church. The response of the newspaper is still being awaited.
This
would not be the first time that PUNCH Newspaper would commit such
professional misconduct which evidently is aimed at festering acrimony
and disunity amongst Nigerian Christians. On another occasion, the
newspaper had sent its journalist to the Word of Life Bible Church in
Warri to pick words from the President of CAN while he was preaching and
presented it as an interview.
It
is clear that there are negative forces determined to ensure that the
Nigerian Church will not attain unity and oneness. These are the same
forces that fabricated the “N7 billion” story and the allegation that
the President of CAN went to South Africa to import arms into the
country when in actual fact the money was from the office of the NSA and
it was meant to pay for mercenaries to fight Boko Haram. The
mercenaries came into the country and they were instrumental in driving
back Boko Haram before the 2015 Elections.
This
act of false accusation is not restricted to PUNCH Newspaper alone. The
United States Government in its 2014 International Religious Freedom
Report presented an equally inaccurate and malicious report about the
President of CAN. The US Report gave the impression that Christians in
Nigeria are the obstacle to peace and security in the country. On page
11 of the USA IRF 2014 Report, it was stated:
“Many
Religious Leaders publicly supported tolerance and interfaith methods
of conflict resolution. For example, Catholic Cardinal John Onaiyekan
and Sultan of Sokoto Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar held a summit on
interfaith understanding in August. Some leaders, however, said distrust
between Christian and Muslim communities (and discord among
denominations within the same faith tradition) could threaten interfaith
efforts.
The
independent Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) comprised of
Christian and Muslim leaders, failed to meet during the year to the
frustration of many Muslim and Christian leaders. The NIREC co-Chair and
Head of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor,
has criticized Muslim leaders for not doing enough to condemn Boko Haram
and has been reluctant to engage in interfaith dialogue. As a result,
Muslim and other Christian leaders have expressed disappointment at
Oritsejafor’s stance.”
This
inaccurate and malicious report gave the impression that the President
of CAN, and by extension, the Nigerian Church, was the obstacle to peace
and reconciliation in Nigeria. The Report that claimed the President of
CAN is “reluctant to engage in interfaith dialogue” is contrary
to the truth as the advocate for peace and reconciliation has been the
President of CAN. When it proved difficult for NIREC to meet, the
President of CAN organized an Inter Faith Movement called THINK NIGERIA.
The Movement brought together Christian and Muslim leaders to find
solutions to problems of religious intolerance in the country. Contrary
to the impression created by the Americans, the THINK NIGERIA Movement
met four times as follows:
- 28th January, 2014
- 19th March, 2014
- 17th June, 2014
- 18th March, 2015
The
National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) wrote the American Government
pointing out the error in its report and urging USA to correct it. To
date, America has not responded.
Nigerian
Christians should remain circumspect and aware that there are
deliberate attempts by enemies of Christianity to discredit CAN so that
the Nigerian Church shall be divided. Most of the negative information
circulating about CAN is direct manipulation and some are deliberately
twisted to cause rancor in the Church. Christians are urged to remain
circumspect.
In the meantime, the response of PUNCH newspaper is awaited.
Kingdom News