Ekiti pastor and his heavenly fees

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THE extent to which some unscrupulous persons are willing to go to acquire filthy lucre through heist is literally boundless, both in terms of the choice of their victims and the instruments of deceit they employ to perfect their scams. Or how do you situate the conduct of a supposed minister of God who persuaded members of his church to pay N310,000 fee so he could take them to heaven? The controversial pastor, Ade Abraham, was said to have relocated to Ekiti State from Kaduna where he was based in 2020. He later returned to Kaduna to urge a number of his members to relocate with him to a camp in Omuo Ekiti, Ekiti State, where he would prepare them for the rapture, an event that signposts the second advent of Christ according to popular belief in the Christian faith. And he assured that the “gate of heaven would open for all of them to fly to heaven” at a fee of N310,000!

Quite a few questions could be asked: Was the hefty amount of money to be paid for fuel? Which section of the Holy Book prescribes payment of money for heavenly journey? Was the payment the only criterion to make heaven? And if not, what is the fate of those who meet the other criteria but could not afford the huge payment he demanded? Evidently, there is a sense in which poverty and misery tend to limit the capacity of some people to reason and interrogate patently ludicrous and fraudulent claims by the likes of Pastor Abraham. Otherwise, there seems to be no sufficient ground for anyone to fall for this type of hogwash scheme. The offer is so patently unreasonable that no one in his/her right senses ought to have subscribed to it. But as they say, religion is the opium of the people.

It is a worrying development and a shame to Christendom that there are so many sham and unconscionable pastors out there feeding off the gullibility of people and the frustrating socioeconomic environment. With the government failing to provide for the citizenry, they are vulnerable to charlatans and clowns masquerading as women and men of God. It is even sadder that Nigeria has an ugly combination of political and religious charlatans. The politicians make promises of good governance they never mean to keep but rather implement official policies that lead to further immiserasion of the citizenry after gaining power. The disappointed citizens in turn make a recourse to religion to seek succour and what the state has callously denied them through instrument of of miracles that seldom happen. Religious charlatans wouldn’t have had much to sell to the people if the state had done its duty meticulously and conscientiously. Again, the unabashed lifestyle of opulence of some frontline ministers of God is a bad example to the undisciplined up-and-coming ones who wish to imitate them by all means.

Perhaps it should be mentioned that but for the kind of queer miracle promised, the instant case pales into insignificance in comparison to what is going on in many religious gatherings, especially regarding the humongous amount of resources that some members or casual attendees are being made to part with through deceit. The only difference between the matter at issue and a litany of other religion-related scams that had been perpetrated, and are still being perpetrated, is the unusual and outrageous promise of heavenly journey, and not the seemingly high price of the phoney promise. It still beggars belief that many people are easily hoodwinked to pay heavily for miracles that hardly ever happen, especially when there are no precedents in the Holy Book of any transactional miracles. What that probably means is that some people’s idea and knowledge of their religion is limited to what their religious leaders teach or tell them. That is a rather lazy approach to the practice of a religion.

It is heartening to know that the controversial minister of God has been arrested for fraud by the police in Ekiti State. We urge a thorough inquiry into the ugly incident so that the state can make an example of the alleged errant pastor if found culpable. The ordinary citizens are already groaning from the pain inflicted on them because of suboptimal governance by the political leaders. Callous religious leaders should not be allowed to continue exacerbating that distress through their fraudulent activities.

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