President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and General 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.”
