There was anxiety in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital on Wednesday May 22, 2019 as over 120 destitutes allegedly evacuated from the worshiping center of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), located at the Redemption Camp, along the Lagos – Ibadan expressway were dumped in the ancient Egba city.

 

 

However, their unannounced presence in major streets of Abeokuta metropolis ignited angers amidst the rumours that the destitutes had been used for money making rituals before they were eventually dumped in the city under the cover of the night.

 

Police officers in collaboration with security personnel of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG evacuated these destitute comprised of couples with their young children, middle-aged men and women as well as the elderly.

The development however caused palpable fear and tension among residents of Oke-Sokori, Kuto and Iyana-Motuary areas of Abeokuta metropolis most of who rained curses on government and security agencies for not doing enough to get all ritualists’ den across the state clean.

Some of the destitute, who claimed to have spent between six months and one year at the Redemption Camp, accused the church authorities of victimisation. The victims explained that the RCCG security operatives with policemen indiscriminately rounded them up during vigil service midnight on Tuesday, May 21 and threw them into waiting vehicles which eventually took them to Abeokuta.

 

However RCCG, Pastor Olaitan Olubiyi, (Head of media) disclosed that he was absolved the church of any blame. Olubiyi denied the allegation that the church forcibly ejected the destitute from its premises, explaining that what the church did was simply to purge the camp of miscreants and others with criminal tendencies.

His words:“We have a system through which we screen those who genuinely come for prayers. We also have an approved way of taking care of the destitute in the church of God. “Whenever anyone comes for prayer, we do ensure that we properly document their data in our register to prevent criminal situations. But those ones you see illegally found their ways into the church. “Some of them were screened for the purpose of knowing their challenges and those with genuine accommodation problems were assisted. But you will discover that they change their addresses and still return to the church.”

 

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Source: Within Nigeria