Opinion/Feature | 20 March 2012 09:54 CET

BISHOP OYEDEPO SHILOH SLAP, JESUS WITCH AND DIASPORA NIGERIANS

Source: Obinna Akukwe/Nollywoodgists.com

Bishop David Oyedepo is arguably the most successful pentecostal pastor in Nigeria. He is the Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church worldwide aka Winners Chapel with Headquarters in Ota near Lagos.

During the past two editions of Shiloh programme in 2009,the Bishop made the traditional alter call, this time around for witches, wizards and occultic people who wanted to surrender their lives to God. Some Congregationalists volunteered for the altar including the lady who received the controversial slap. Bishop Oyedepo interrogated those at the altar to determine the extent of their involvement in witchcraft and occultic operations. When it came to the turn of the lady she affirmed that she was a witch for Jesus. Her confession of being a witch for Jesus infuriated Bishop Oyedepo and it landed her a hot slap. This slap has continued to generate reactions years after it occurred.

Many Diasporas Nigerians did not approve of the slaps giving by Bishop Oyedepo. This is situated in the context of the environment where they reside which rightly protects people from all sorts of assault especially women. However many Nigerians residing within the country sees the witch slapping from a different perspective because they have obviously been victims of one form of dark assault or the other.

In the first instance the Bible said that we should not suffer a witch to live Exodus 22 vs 18. Secondly a Shiloh service which has over two million people in attendance and another four million watching via satellite and a lady is claiming to be commissioned by Jesus to be a witch could send wrong signals. Jesus Christ never commissioned anybody to be his witchcraft agent and the lady in question is obviously misleading the congregation. The slap from Bishop Oyedepo is obviously an impulsive action from a man who heard abomination from the pulpit.

Some other pastors might ask the ushers to take away the lady, others might rebuke her openly but certainly no pastor in Nigeria will likely cheer the young girl who was not compelled to appear before the altar in the first instance. Even Jesus Christ in John 2 vs 13-17 led a rampage against money changers in the temple, whipped them with cord and upturned their tables.

Africans have refused to build and can never develop an aircraft industry because a section of the people that have the professional capacity to fly at night will never allow the industry to develop. If they were flying probably to Washington DC to have a vantage view of the White House , or to Yanqing to see the Great Walls of China or to Giza to see the Pyramids of Egypt it wouldn't pose any problem. If they fly to watch Barclays Premier League in England or La-liga in Spain live from any of the high rise buildings around the stadiums in Old Trafford, Stanford Bridge or even Bernebeau and Nou Camp at least they can give their non flying kindred a tutorial on best tourism destinations. The problem is that they travel to dark places to inflict darkness on people's family, finances and fortune. It's a serious matter.

A good number of Diaspora Nigerians fled the country when witches and wizards from their ancestral homes refused them seeing the fruits of their labor. The rest of the people who refused to flee the country have adopted different mechanisms for self defense. Sometime ago my estate agent took me round a house vacated by a professor. On close look I discovered that the professor kept cocoyam in a corner of every aluminum window in the expansive house. When the cocoyam failed to deliver the professor, he fled the house for another place. Therefore many Nigerians wouldn't mind another hot slap for any witch or wizard any day and anytime.

I am not sure that Jesus Christ commissioned anybody to do witchcraft on his behalf. Therefore the Lady in question cannot be a witch on assignment for Jesus Christ. However if she claims to be working for Jesus then it would be the eight wonder of the world.

A Canadian based chartered accountant, in fact the first from his village in Mbeke in Imo state came back to his fatherland after a long sojourn and met his death ten days later in strange night circumstances obviously after witchcraft visitation. The Ohaneze Chieftain who informed the writer of the demise had to rush to the village to stop the rampaging youth from torching more homes as a result of the incidence.

This happened middle of the year 2011. Such fate had made many in the diasporas to prefer to come home to snatch a wife and run back.

A certain Clifford Orji in Nigeria in February 1999 was arrested under the bridge along Oshodi-Apapa expressway for being in possession of human parts of various ages and sizes. The then police commissioner paraded this man masquerading as queer native doctors and being patronized every late night by affluent Nigerians until residents reported the unusual visitors to the police. This man was arrested and the Nigerian Police have not been able to prosecute him till today because his patrons made the case that he is a mad man. This madness cannot happen in most western countries.

The lady slapped by Bishop Oyedepo is probably an apprentice witch. Another class of witches in Nigeria deserves very serious slap . The government official who refused to repair deplorable roads and people die daily through accidents on those roads to the glee of the bloodsuckers. The security agents making business out of Boko Haram while blood is spilled daily to the satisfaction of the blood suckers.

The politician who sponsored thugs to snatch ballot boxes and kill innocent voters in the process to the rejoicing of the bloodsuckers. The government official who swallowed funds meant for education, occasioning illiterate youths to be easily turned to religious rioters , killing their brothers from other faith to the entertainment of the bloodsuckers. The other government official who mismanaged health funds occasioning accident, distress and unhealthy victims to die in hospitals without medical attention, to the elation of the bloodsuckers. The police chieftain who swallowed security funds and rendered his unit helpless as distress calls are received concerning bloody robbery attacks, all to the thrill of the bloodsuckers.

A former Siera leonian Ambassador to the United States and Siera Leonian political big wig Dr John Leah resigned on the 15th of December

2011 in protest over the overshadowing influence of voodoism in the government business of Siera Leone. A former Governor of Enugu State was so obsessed with this voodoism that his Chief of Staff used to bathe him every 12 midnight in government house with specially prepared condiments. In 2010 a former head of Niger Delta Development Commission burnt hundreds of millions of naira belonging to NDDC in the cemetery on the orders of his spiritualist just to retain his seat as chairman of the commission.

These vampires occupying government positions are the senior executive witches. They have milked the nation into a state of malnutrition. I implore the Almighty God to extend a slap to these vampires occupying public offices before they further degenerate the nation into a state of kwashiorkor.

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Pastor David Oyedepo and that hot slap – another shame on Nigerian Pentecostalism

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