CAN decries stoppage of Bonnke's crusade by Kwara
From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin
GERMAN evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke has been denied his constitutional right of worship as he was barred from preaching in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, the Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Dr. Olusola Ajolore, has said.
Ajolore, in an interview with The Guardian yesterday in Ilorin, said the denial of entry into Ilorin to the German preacher would not go unchallenged.
According to him, the only way to avert crisis in the state was to allow the preacher back into Ilorin to perform his evangelistic duties.
Decrying what he called the state government's perceived discrimination between Christians and Moslems, the CAN leader, who was accompanied by the local chapter of the association's youth leader, Rev. Segun Abejide, said the action of the government and the police against the conduct of the crusade had sown an "everlasting seed of discord".
He said: "I held a closed door meeting of over 10 hours with the leadership of the youths and they insisted that unless Bonnke came back and be allowed to conclude the crusade, there may not be peace".
It was learnt that the cancellation of the last three days of the proposed five-day crusade was done to avert a religious clash in the town.
Sources said some Moslem groups believed to be non-Nigerians were behind the crisis.
"So the action of the police and that of the government were taken to prevent blood-letting in the town", said a source.
Ajolore insisted that the duty of the law enforcement agents was to ensure the safety of the worshippers and not to have hurriedly announced the cancellation.
"The belief of our youths is that if the government had claimed that the Moslem youths were responsible for the cancellation of that programme, they too would ensure that no other religious programme holds in the state again", he said.
Although peace had returned to the town with Christians converging at their different worship centres on Sunday savouring the success of the first two days of the programme, many of the youths still looked restive.
Reacting to the development, former Works and Housing Minister, Gen. Abdulkarim Adisa (rtd), underlined the peculiarity of Ilorin on the issue of religion.
Adisa, speaking at the weekend during his 56th birthday anniversary, noted that any religious preacher coming into the town should be familiar with "the fact".
He added: "Ilorin is a peculiar place. It is a sensitive Moslem town. We are 100 per cent Moslems. Though there are more churches than mosques, we accommodate our Christian brothers and sisters. Any preacher who wants to come here must be careful".
