My criticism of Christian bodies exposed me to security threats –Rev.Omolehin

The founder of Word Assembly Ministries, Ilorin, Kwara State, Reverend Isaac Omolehin, speaks with OLUFEMI ADEDIRAN about his opposition to denominational divisions in Nigerian Christianity, criticism of Christian bodies, and the exposure of his family to security threats

How was your growing up like?

Well, I had a difficult childhood. I was born in Iluke, Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State. I had my primary education and secondary education. I finished my university education. I read Animal Science. I served in NIFES (Nigeria Fellowship of Evangelical Students), and was ordained into the evangelistic ministry.

I have been in ministry since 1984/85. But I have been preaching as an evangelist since 1975, preaching from place to place and conducting crusades. I have been here since 1975. I have lived all my life here. I married here; I had all my children here. I have a very strong ministry here. I have travelled all over the world.

You have been very vocal about denominational Christianity in Nigeria. Is there any reason for this?

As Christians, our upbringing is wrong. We were brought up denominationally. We were not brought up as Christians. You see yourself as better than another church, or you see your church as better than another. But my kind of thinking is very strange, primitive, and controversial, but that’s because people don’t settle down to even listen to what I am saying or even think about it.

We have not been brought up over the years as Christians. We were brought up as Catholics, as Anglicans, as Baptists, as Methodists, and that is how we have grown. We have not grown to be Christians. As long as there is this schism, whatever explanation you want to give for it, as long as there is schism in the body, we cannot be strong.

The Bible says a house that is divided against itself cannot stand. We are divided. We have already gone too far along the path of error, and the individuals who need to stand out as fathers are already too dogged as denominational champions and pushers to be able to attract the followership of others across denominational lines.

How has this affected the Church as a body?

If you want to command the leadership that attracts followership from across denominational lines, you must disrobe yourself of your denominational championship status.

You must let down your guard, you must open your door, and you must see everybody as your brother, not just the people from your denomination. Look at when CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) came up against the Muslim-Muslim ticket; they were ignored.

They said that no political party should fly a Muslim-Muslim ticket. They were ignored, and nothing happened. A strong body should not be ignored at that level.

How can CAN and PFN regain its respectable position?

We need a leader who is non-denominational, who will be at the centre, in the middle. He commands the respect of all. If he speaks, everybody will follow.

We need a leader in the middle who is not a denominational leader and who gains the respect of all. Renowned missionaries across the world stood as central Christian figures in their days and became a rallying point for all.

Raising one central leadership for Christianity in Nigeria is a very tall order. The denominational virus has eaten deep into our psyche. I don’t see how that can happen.

How were you able to manage criticism from Christian bodies?

They called me names, but those are small boys whose mothers were not married when I started preaching. I just put them where they belong—small boys, sons of Belial.

Again, there have been attacks from churches. Recently, the Baptist Church banned me from preaching in Baptist churches. The attacks are still going on, but they don’t affect me.

Jesus had already told us this. He said we should go to all nations and preach the gospel, but He also immediately told us that we might get to some places where what we are saying is not acceptable to those who are hearing it. He did not ask us to stay there arguing; He said we should shake off the dust of our feet and move on.

Attacks like that cannot bring a man of God down. Social media cannot bring a man of God down.

Have you suffered any physical attack?

The police came to my camp about a month and a half ago, or maybe two months ago, in the middle of the night and asked everybody to run because bandits and kidnappers were coming to attack me. The whole camp was deserted and has been deserted for two months.

So, I’m still being persecuted. I was not around when the police came, so before I came back, they had all deserted the camp. I’m in Ilorin right now. I can’t go back to the camp. I have a house, but I can’t enter it. I have a car, but I can’t ride it. I have to hide myself from the public. I have to live somewhere in Ilorin that nobody knows.

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My family members are scattered. In the camp are over 80 orphaned children and staff. In the camp are a secondary school, a primary school, and a hospital. There are also other establishments like an old people’s home and a rehabilitation centre for mentally challenged women, because some of the mothers of these children that I look after are mentally ill.

We took them from the streets, and when they refused to give up their children, I took both of them and lodged them in this camp.

You have all these categories of people who live with me, and I look after them every day. As I speak, they are all scattered. Bandits chased us out of that place. So, I’m still suffering persecution as I speak—physical persecution.

They are looking for me to kill me. Three days after they evacuated my camp here in Kwara State, my village was attacked in Kogi State, and my people were killed. So, when they missed me here, they went to my village to kill my people.

How have you been conducting church services since then?

No services since May. Nobody has been able to go back to the camp. You can’t go back inside. It’s not safe.

Where are all these members, the staff, and the children now?

They are all scattered all over; there are over a hundred people. Even the school has not opened for the new session. The school cannot open there. Even the hospital is not functioning. The patients and nurses all ran for their lives. The place is not safe.

What efforts have you made to ensure the intervention of security agencies?

We wrote to the police because they ordered us to vacate the place. We wrote to ask whether, in their opinion, it was safe for us to return, but there has been no reply.

We made a follow-up request to the police, saying, “Please, schools have resumed. We have over a hundred children who need to go to school. Can you please, in your own opinion, tell us whether it is safe to return? This is because if we go there on our own and anything happens, you asked us not to be there. So, can you give us a guarantee to go back?”

But they said they were still working on it. We went there last week to follow up on the request we made. There has been no response yet. The place is deserted. We also wrote to the State Ministry of Social Welfare because orphanages, rehabilitation centres, and old people’s homes are under the ministry, but we have not got any reply till today. We also reported to the Department of State Services.

How has this affected you and your ministry?

It has not affected me. I’m an evangelist; I can hit the streets and preach, or I can go on the radio. My preaching has not been affected. My physical existence has; I have no home. Since June, if I sleep here today, I’ll go and sleep somewhere else tomorrow. I’m homeless with my wife and children.

What do you want the government to do for you?

I don’t want anything from anybody; just leave me to live my life, let me be. I am Isaac Omolehin. I’m an evangelist, and that is what I want to be; I don’t want to be anything else. I have my views about the Bible, and I can’t change them. I have been preaching for 50 years; it is not now that I will change it.

I’m a Puritan; I’m a holiness preacher; I cannot now be a prosperity preacher or embrace another brand of preaching. No, I’m a Puritan; I was brought up a Puritan, saved a Puritan, and now a preacher. I was a disciple, a proper disciple. I became a Christian in July 1972.

The journey is already too long. I can’t change.

Would you say you and your church were targeted because of your stance on Christianity in Nigeria?

I can’t exclude religious organisations that felt offended by my preaching. I can’t, because as I’m still being persecuted, their names are being mentioned.

Is that the reason you have mellowed down?

Well, wisdom required me to mellow down because I don’t even have a home. But my work has not stopped. As I speak, I’m building a school for Muslims in Dangiwa community, Kwara State.

I’m building a hospital for them, as they have no hospital. I can send you pictures of these things, including where I’m building tents for displaced families in Borno State to sleep. They have nowhere to sleep.