Wednesday, Februar 5, 2014 17
THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com
TheMetroSection Prayers for the nation at TREM Apostolic Impartation service By Nike Sotade and Seye Olumide
AST Friday was a day of intense prayers and loads of ministration at the Anthony Oke, Lagos headquarters of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) as the church ended its crucial 21-day prayer and fasting session for the nation. The day also coincided with the closing of the Council of African Apostles Impartation Conference in Lagos. As early as 3.30 pm church members started trooping in from their work places and homes to witness a night of Supernatural intervention in their lives. The conference which held during the week had in attendance the chief host and Presiding Bishop of TREM Dr. Mike Okonkwo, Bishop Joe Imakando of Zambia, Dr. Mensa Otabil of Ghana and the chairman of African Apostles Bishop Tudor Bismark of Zimbabwe and other African church leaders in a meeting structured to discuss and rub minds on specific issues that affect the church in Africa. The Council of African Apostles is a body comprising of Christian leaders in the Body of Christ from African Countries. In a chat with the media on the state of the nation, especially the way politicians have been cross-carpeting from one party to another, Bishop Okonkwo observed that as they decamp, “I think one of the things they should focus on is about development and not about their individual agenda. They should go beyond party interests and begin to look at how they can improve the lot of the people. There are lots and lots of problems staring us in the face and I think it is immoral to pretend as if the citizens are not there.” He also supported the proposed national conference, which he said would
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Pastor Chichi Bismark (left), Bishop Bismark, Bishop Okonkwo, his wife Peace, Bishop Simeon and Apostle Josephat at the TREM Apostolic Impartation Service... last Friday
help people to express their feelings, rather than bottling up their emotions, “which could implode.” “ Let the people talk, it has a way of bringing relief to them and will also spill over to the nation,” he said. The Bishop of TREM also put his full weight behind the signing of the anti-gay law by President Goodluck Jonathan. “The Bible is very clear about the issue. God made man and woman. The position of the church is very clear. We do not sup-
port homosexuality. It is unscriptural and here we don’t advocate that,” he declared. Bishop Bismark also explained that the purpose of the African church leaders’ meeting in Nigeria was to deal with the negative issues bedeviling the continent which includes the issues of governance and so on and to chart a path on “how to improve the lot of our children and grandchildren in 20 years, 30 years from now.” The heat in the polity, the persistent insecurity, religious tension and upsurge in
crime rates prompted the Bishop of TREM to declare a 21-day fasting and prayer to seek the face of the Almighty to avert further bloodshed or outbreak of religious or ethnic war in the country. In his message at the event, one of the visiting Bishops said Nigeria holds a very key position among the black nations “and it is therefore necessary that it must not erupt into any religious, political or ethnic crises.” He said the nation would definitely overcome its numerous challenges “as God saw the children of Israelites through their countless difficulties.” His prayers: “Nigeria will rise again and its citizens would realise their potentials, both spiritually and physically.” A participant at the prayer session, Kenneth Agbi said he believed in the efficacy of prayer as potent enough to neutralise whatever the enemy of the country must have planted “on, before or after 2015, which some American analysts predicted long ago would be the end of Nigeria’s unity, adding, “God who brought Nigeria together has a purpose.” While the prayer actually centered on the state of the nation, God in His dynamism also worked signs and wonders in the lives of those who attended the programme “with personal burdens.” One of them, a woman who craved anonymity, told The Guardian: “It is a great blessing for me and my family for participating in this prayer and fasting. Ever since the programme started, my condition has never remained the same.” When asked if she bothered about the state of the nation, she said, “The sea may rage, the earth may shake, but God is bigger. God’s love for Nigeria is unparalleled.”
Man, 30, to die by hanging for murder From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti N Ado Ekiti High Court yesterday sentenced a 30-year-old man, Mayowa Omolaye, to death by hanging for killing one Tayo Oluwabusuyi. He was said to have committed the crime at Igbooroke farm in Igede-Ekiti, headquarters of Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Council of the state, on May 30, 2009. The prosecution had contended that the act contravened Section 316 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap 38, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004. According to the prosecution, Omolaye had allegedly con-
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fessed to the crime, and had claimed to have cut the throat of his victim. The prosecution called seven witnesses while the accused testified by himself and had also called two witnesses. The prosecution witness had asked whether the court could act and convict the retracted confessional statement of the accused to convict him and whether by the evidence before the court, the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. Sentencing the accused, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye held that where the essential ingredients of the offence charged has
Police nab suspected killer of Enugu monarch From Lawrence Njoku (Enugu) LMOST two years after his death, the Enugu State Command of the Nigeria Police yesterday confirmed that it has arrested the gang leader in the gruesome murder of the traditional ruler of Oruku Autonomous Community, Nkanu East Local Council of the state. The Monarch, His Majesty Moses Ugwu, Ode 1 of Umuode, was murdered on October 9, 2012 at about 7.40 p.m. in his Provision Store at Akpuoga Nike by a gang of four men. Confirming the arrest of the leader of the gang, whose name was given as Ejike Mba, Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ebere Amaraizu, stated that it was made possible by intelligence information from members of the public.
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The suspect Amaraizu said that the 26year-old suspect, who is an indigene of Oruku in Nkanu East Local Council, had been on the wanted list of the po-
lice since the incident occurred and was arrested at a public function, which he attended. He said: “The suspect who is about 26 years of age, is a kingpin of the alleged murder of the monarch. He has been at large with his gangs after the commission of the alleged murder with his gangs. Information emerged about where he attended a function and allegedly concealed his presence in Oruku also in Nkanu East Local Council of Enugu State. Our operatives acting swiftly nabbed him during the function”. He stated that the suspect would be charged to court after thorough investigations, adding that the Police would intensify manhunt for other members of his gang.
been proved “as has been done in this case”, the charge is proved beyond reasonable doubt. Justice Ogunmoye ruled that all essentials of murder had been established in the case presented by the prosecution, and said “the judgement of this court is that you be hanged by the neck until you are dead and may the Lord have mercy on your soul.” Omolaye was said to have been earlier convicted of assault and stealing from the same farm, where he was said to have robbed the same Oluwabusuyi. It was gathered that after leaving jail for the crime, he allegedly went back to Oluwabusuyi’s farm and killed him.
Photonews
Homeless: A young man sleeping on Railway Bridge, Ijora, Lagos...at the weekend
PHOTO: ODITA SUNDAY