The Persecuted Church
By Peter Onwubuariri
The persecution of Christians didn’t fall with Roman Empire. History reminds us of the psychedelic Nero of Rome, who piled up burnt bodies of Christians in Rome, to provide a flame to light the city at night during his reign.
The accusation wrought by Nero, was that Christ-followers were the masterminds behind the burning of Rome and they deserved no less than to be accorded the same.
In March, a peaceful crusade organized by the young missionary Diocese of Western Izon nestled in two oil rich but economic backward states, Delta and Bayelsa, was turned into a bonfire by estranged cult worshippers.
At the end of the coordinated attack on the Cathedral Church of St Matthew Patani, Delta State, headquarters’ of the 7-month old diocese, and the faithful present at the event were scattered and the Holy Cross that adorns the altar was whisked away.
Several persons received the beating of their lives. The windows of the ‘young cathedral’ were smashed. Wrecked was the instruments of some young playing band of the Boy’s Brigade and many more destructions valued at N3.2 million.
Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Western Izon, Edafe Emamezi, in an interview last year, declared that 117 communities have been identified for church planting in the largely riverine diocese.
What the Bishop didn’t realize was that as targets were being set for church planting; many cult worshippers were not at ease with the decision by the church to turn the tables against them.
In 2005, during his maiden Episcopal tour to Ogbotobo, Bayelsa state, a community that produces 45,000 Barrels of crude oil per day, a parishioner presented this plea to the Bishop:
“My Lord Bishop we need a crusade in this area to arrest elements of paganism and atheist culture.”
The man lamented that Ogbotobo community is blessed with rich mineral resources: `With this, there ought to be development projects from oil companies and the government but there seems to be spiritual warfare between the agents of darkness and the hand of God in the community.''
The crisis that occurred in March 2006 was set in Patani, which is more than 60 km away from Ogbotobo. There however seems to be a close resemblance to the cry of the parishioner in Ogbotobo and the actuality in Patani.
Conflict is a fact of life for Christians and other religious groups around the world. Many suffer at the hands of religious majorities, as do Muslims in India, Bah ‘is in Iran and Christians in Pakistan, Indonesia and Vietnam.
But the Nigerian situation is puzzling, particularly in the South of the country where the Christian majority are beginning to suffer in the hands of the minority traditional worshippers.
In Ondo State, Ode-Aye, Okitipupa Local Government Area, adherents of Okute, are becoming very intolerant of Christian worship and praise during their 21-day ‘no-drumming’ festival.
There is a myth that drumbeats during Okute will wade away the good spirits performing a ritual cleansing on the land during those days.
The accusation is that Christians are violating their custom in beating drums thereby inviting evil spirits to the community loaded with infirmities, sicknesses, poverty and a general retrogression in the land.
The result in March this year was the beating to pulp of 5 clergymen in St Christopher’s Anglican Church Ode-Aye, Ondo State and the destruction of property valued at N6 million.
The undesirability of these actions was echoed by the Primate of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Rev Peter Akinola at the spur of the mayhem in Maiduguri over the Danish cartoon protests.
Akinola urged the federal government and the states where Christian churches had been destroyed "to take urgent steps at rebuilding those structures and paying adequate compensation while assuring Christians of adequate protection in this country".
Christians, Muslims, animists and traditionalists all surely need a peaceful environment to practice their faith in this country.
By Peter Onwubuariri
The persecution of Christians didn’t fall with Roman Empire. History reminds us of the psychedelic Nero of Rome, who piled up burnt bodies of Christians in Rome, to provide a flame to light the city at night during his reign.
The accusation wrought by Nero, was that Christ-followers were the masterminds behind the burning of Rome and they deserved no less than to be accorded the same.
In March, a peaceful crusade organized by the young missionary Diocese of Western Izon nestled in two oil rich but economic backward states, Delta and Bayelsa, was turned into a bonfire by estranged cult worshippers.
At the end of the coordinated attack on the Cathedral Church of St Matthew Patani, Delta State, headquarters’ of the 7-month old diocese, and the faithful present at the event were scattered and the Holy Cross that adorns the altar was whisked away.
Several persons received the beating of their lives. The windows of the ‘young cathedral’ were smashed. Wrecked was the instruments of some young playing band of the Boy’s Brigade and many more destructions valued at N3.2 million.
Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Western Izon, Edafe Emamezi, in an interview last year, declared that 117 communities have been identified for church planting in the largely riverine diocese.
What the Bishop didn’t realize was that as targets were being set for church planting; many cult worshippers were not at ease with the decision by the church to turn the tables against them.
In 2005, during his maiden Episcopal tour to Ogbotobo, Bayelsa state, a community that produces 45,000 Barrels of crude oil per day, a parishioner presented this plea to the Bishop:
“My Lord Bishop we need a crusade in this area to arrest elements of paganism and atheist culture.”
The man lamented that Ogbotobo community is blessed with rich mineral resources: `With this, there ought to be development projects from oil companies and the government but there seems to be spiritual warfare between the agents of darkness and the hand of God in the community.''
The crisis that occurred in March 2006 was set in Patani, which is more than 60 km away from Ogbotobo. There however seems to be a close resemblance to the cry of the parishioner in Ogbotobo and the actuality in Patani.
Conflict is a fact of life for Christians and other religious groups around the world. Many suffer at the hands of religious majorities, as do Muslims in India, Bah ‘is in Iran and Christians in Pakistan, Indonesia and Vietnam.
But the Nigerian situation is puzzling, particularly in the South of the country where the Christian majority are beginning to suffer in the hands of the minority traditional worshippers.
In Ondo State, Ode-Aye, Okitipupa Local Government Area, adherents of Okute, are becoming very intolerant of Christian worship and praise during their 21-day ‘no-drumming’ festival.
There is a myth that drumbeats during Okute will wade away the good spirits performing a ritual cleansing on the land during those days.
The accusation is that Christians are violating their custom in beating drums thereby inviting evil spirits to the community loaded with infirmities, sicknesses, poverty and a general retrogression in the land.
The result in March this year was the beating to pulp of 5 clergymen in St Christopher’s Anglican Church Ode-Aye, Ondo State and the destruction of property valued at N6 million.
The undesirability of these actions was echoed by the Primate of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Rev Peter Akinola at the spur of the mayhem in Maiduguri over the Danish cartoon protests.
Akinola urged the federal government and the states where Christian churches had been destroyed "to take urgent steps at rebuilding those structures and paying adequate compensation while assuring Christians of adequate protection in this country".
Christians, Muslims, animists and traditionalists all surely need a peaceful environment to practice their faith in this country.
