APPREHENSION IN RCCG OVER KILLING OF PASTOR IN BORNO

The killing of a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) pastor by the Boko Haram sect in troubled Borno State has thrown the church into mourning and apprehension.
The pastor, Taiwo Dokun, was killed in the insurgents’ attack on Dille Village in Askira-Uba local government area of the state on Monday.
According to some members of RCCG who spoke to journalists in Maiduguri, the whereabouts of the late pastor’s wife and three children is not yet known.
“The family could have been abducted by the insurgents who took away many of the residents of the town as the family members were not found since the attack and have not called anyone. “Though their residence was completely razed by the insurgents, their corpses were not found in the debris,” one of the church members who preferred anonymity told journalists. Speaking from Dille on Friday, Jacob Mamza narrated how the pastor was killed in the attack which claimed 45 lives.
He said, “the pastor was in his house at about 6 a.m. when the insurgents attacked the village, his house was surrounded by the hoodlums and while attempting to run he was shot.
“Pastor Taiwo was running to a neighbour’s house and it was in the course of his fleeing that he was shot in the head and the chest and the insurgent equally came to butcher him to make sure that he was dead.”
Mamza said the insurgents subsequently went to his house to raze it down and it was at this time that his family might have been abducted. Some of the members of RCCG, who spoke to journalists in Maiduguri, said the late pastor might be buried in Mubi, Adamawa State as the initial plan to convey his corpse to Akure, capital of Ondo State for burial might not work as his body had started decomposing.
One of them said: “He might be buried at Mubi for he was initially taken to a Mubi hospital where he was embalmed but because it was not properly done, the corpse started swelling up and a decision was taken to bury him in the town.”
Investigations revealed that his death has caused dissatisfaction and annoyance among the RCCG churches in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital as pastors who are compelled to remain in their parishes in troubled area of the state are set for war with the Regional Pastor of the church, Emmanuel Adegboyega Kalejaiye, who oversees the activities of all parishes in the state.
Some of the pastors, who spoke to journalists, said: “The death of Pastor Taiwo was too much for us to bear, we believe this could happen to any of us especially with the insensitivity of our regional pastor to our plight.
“We are still looking for one of us who was abducted on January 6 by the insurgents and we have frequently appeal that the parishes in some of these affected local government areas of Borno be closed for now without result.
“The Deeper Life Bible Church and Living Faith Ministry have closed their parishes in the local government but all our appeal fell on deaf ear and see what is happening to our pastors.
Our pastors have had to travel on these deadly road infested with Boko Haram to Maiduguri every month and it is for the grace of God that many of us are still alive today.”
Source: National Mirror