Following the recent resignation of one of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Trinity Towers’ Senior pastors, Idowu Iluyomade, a church member, Funsho Olufemi, who resides in Lagos has expressed his displeasure towards the development.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos, Olufemi noted that the Iluyomades have done so much to build the church of God and to strengthen Christianity in Nigeria, hence they should be reconsidered.
He, however, cautioned the church to desist from politicking which he assumed forced Iluyomade out of RCCG.
He stated, “I wish to make it crystal clear that this use and dump system did not start today. What happened to the Iluyomades is a culture in RCCG. The RCCG has long been rewarding its good and diligent members with frustration and punishment. Those who helped the church to grow are cast away like worthless orange peels.”
He buttressed, “I will give some indisputable examples among many. The first is the case of Pastor Tony Rapu, who pastor This Present House presently.
“Let me inform the world that Pastor Tony Rapu is the father of modern RCCG, what they call Model Parishes which started at Roxy Cinema, Apapa, Lagos. It is not the General Overseer that modernised the Redeemed Church.
“Pastor Rapu was both a Prophet and a visioneer, as he and his contemporaries were sent out to set up the model parishes by Pastor Adeboye. It was Pastor Tony Rapu, a fiery preacher and passionate speaker who took RCCG to the next level with the rise of the model parishes.
“But what happened? Once RCCG gained ground and became popular and influential, the church leadership went after him. They sent Pastor Rapu away to London to start a new parish. It was a calculated ploy to cut his soaring popularity. And from there, they tactically brought him back to Nigeria, left him without a parish, and finally forced him out of RCCG.”
The RCCG member remarked that past pastors had gone through the phase the Iloyomades are currently experiencing.
He noted, “I heard that Pastor Rapu’s successor Pastor Agu Irukwu is facing the same fate today. He is the son of the late insurance mogul, Prof. Joe Irukwu. Pastor Agu as he is popularly known, built Redeemed church into the second biggest and most influential church in London, so big that the current King of England, King Charles III worships there occasionally and even celebrated his birthday at the church. But how was Pastor Irukwu rewarded?
“He was allegedly forced to step aside last year and a young Pastor of Yoruba extraction was used to replace him. This made some members to start saying that it was because both Pastors, Rapu and Agu were Igbos and that Redeemed church under Pastor Adeboye is Yoruba in heart and mind.
“But if you perceived tribal sentiment in their ouster, what about Pastor Ituah Ighodalo? He is practically Yoruba even though hd hail from Edo state.
“Though, his mum is Yoruba and some say she was even related to the G.O. Once Ituah, a most likable Pastor turned Christ Church parish of RCCG at Gbagada into a celebrity and youthful parish, the RCCG hawks from the Camp came after him, as the Governing Council, doing a hatchet job, said he was divorced and so should not head a parish.”
Olufemi further stated, “Idowu Iluyomade whose leadership of City of David has made RCCG a truly global church, especially because of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) which cuts across many countries.
“How can a Pastor build a structure like Trinity Towers, RCCG’s best building in the world and the best way to appreciate his effort is to force him out of the church in a deceitful manner that seeks to humiliate him and his wife? With a lame reason that his wife had a birthday party after the death of a member of the church, although very sad, as an excuse to force them out.”
He queried, “Where is God in all these acts of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man? Why is RCCG looking so political, so devoid of soul and human feeling?”
He added, ”It is true that Herbert Wigwe’s death was tragic and painful. But nobody talks about the fact that the same Pastor Iluyomade-led COD held two special services in his honour, two services fully dedicated to the memory of Wigwe.
“Pastor Iluyomade and his wife wept endlessly over his passing. But all that we read was about how the late banker donated so much money to the ‘ungrateful church’
“The hard truth that must be told here is that Wigwe indeed raised a significant sum with his friends during fundraising for the Trinity Towers which he chaired.
“Now that they have taken over Trinity Towers, can they now leave the man and his wife at peace while they celebrate their unkind and temporal victory?
“Hence, the discontent in the church presently is sizzling. It is easy to see.
“The disillusionment in RCCG in general is worsening. People who love Pastor ID and his wife, other Pastors who have been oppressed and suppressed and their voices silent, are bracing up to challenge this cruel determination to humiliate Pastor Idowu Iluyomade and his wife, Pastor Siju Iluyomade because they see it as an opportunity to speak out. And there are many of them,” Olufemi averred.