IMO CHURCH CLOSED OVER PETITION AGAINST PASTOR
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On Sunday, youth members at the Zion Family Assemblies of God Church, located at 134B Wethedral Road in Owerri, Imo State, shut out everyone and sealed the church’s grounds in protest of a petition against their pastor.
In spite of the presence of other churchgoers, the adolescents’ actions led many to leave for their homes because there was no service.
The Zion Family Assemblies of God Church, which is situated at 134B Wethedral Road in Owerri, Imo State, was shut down and its premises locked on Sunday by its youth members in protest of a petition against its pastor.
There was no service because of the teenagers’ behavior, even though there were other churchgoers present. Many of them left for their homes.
Kingsley Asuzu, the president of the church’s youth fellowship, told reporters that the Odionyenma family has long attempted to exert their influence over the church, which is why they chose to lock it.
According to Asuzu, the petition to the church’s General Council in Enugu on the alleged impropriety of their officiating minister, Nwoko, infuriated them and other members.
Asusu said the accusation was untrue saying, “How can they accuse him of gross misconduct? They only want to use that to hang him in their petition. He has done nothing wrong, and the family should rather be blamed for what’s happening in the church.
“How can a minister be officiating on the pulpit and then they will go there to embarrass him by forcefully dragging the microphone from him and asking him to go and sit down?
“The problem is that they have been forcing the minister to do their wishes but when he refused, they brought the idea of writing a petition against him, alleging that he had gone traditional in his ministrations by ending his prayers or teachings with “Ofor”. But this is not true.
“We wish to let the General Superintendent and all the Assemblies of God community both locally, nationally, and internationally know that the Zion family will stop at nothing to resist, revolt and withstand any appearance of injustice, unfairness in the process of handling the petition”, Azuzu said.
However, when contacted, Pastor Godfrey Odionyemma acknowledged that there was a petition by the Odionyenma family but maintained that the matter would be decided by the apex leadership of the church.
Odionyemma said, “The issue you called for is currently under the careful handling of the apex leadership of the Assemblies of God Church, Nigeria. As such, I have not received the necessary authorisation from the church leadership in Enugu State to engage in further discussions on this matter.
“I believe it is essential to honour our church’s constitution and its guiding principles as we navigate these challenges at this time. Therefore, I will refrain from commenting on the unrest at this time, trusting that our church leaders will handle the situation with the wisdom and fairness it deserves.”
DSP Henry Okoye, the Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, did not answer his phone or reply to the WhatsApp message, thus attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.
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