There was drama at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (Central Parish) in Abuja on Sunday as members protested against the killing of Christians in Nigeria over alleged blasphemy with their lips sealed with cellotape.
The protest which took place after the Sunday service at the Central Parish in Wuse 2 area of Abuja was led by the Regional Pastor of the Parish who refused to give his name to journalists.
Another Pastor of the church said the decision not to speak on the protest was an “order from above.”
The protesters who declined to speak to journalists had their mouths sealed with cellotape claiming it was a silent protest against killings in the name of God.
The PUNCH reports that a presidential aspirant for the 2023 election under the platform of the All Progressives Congress and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is a member and Senior Pastor of the RCCG.
Some inscriptions on the placards carried by them included, ‘Stop the killing! God is watching’; ‘No killings in the name of religion’, ‘Don’t defend the indefensible’; and ‘Let’s live together in peace.’
The Christian Association of Nigeria, had called for a nationwide protest over the gruesome killing of Deborah Samuel, a 200 Level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto by Muslim fundamentalists.
Some Muslim colleagues of Deborah alleged that she blasphemed their religion, for which she was stoned to death before setting her ablaze.
The killing elicited international outcry while the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, imposing a 24-hour curfew on the metropolis to restore order.
Violence also erupted on Friday in Katangan area of Warji Local Government Area of Bauchi State over an alleged blasphemy.
Trouble reportedly started in Bauchi following a social media post by a 40-year-old staff of the Medical Department Warji Local Government, Rhoda Jatau, which was considered as blasphemous to Islam.
The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Samson Ayokunle, however, instructed Christians in the country to be discreet in carrying out the protest in view of a threat by an unknown Islamic group to do a counter-protest.
He urged church leaders to do the protest by carrying placards within the premises of their local churches or CAN secretariats.
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