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Pastor Adeboye speaks up on #ENDSWAT youth protest
This is the second time within a space of two weeks that the revered cleric was speaking up to take a firm position on national issues
BY NICHOLAS ABE
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Eunuch Adeboye, has expressed his support to Nigerian youths who have embarked on a nationwide protest to end police brutality.
Pastor Adeboye said Nigeria must keep her youths alive so that they would prophesy and see visions.
“Our daughters will not be able to prophesy and young men will not see visions if we don’t keep them alive,” Papa GO, as he is fondly called by his members tweeted Wednesday night.
He added: “I support the youths in this peaceful protest as they “speak up” to #EndPoliceBrutality #EndSARS #ENDSWAT.”
This is the second time within a space of two weeks that the revered cleric was speaking up to take a firm position on national issues.
He had earlier October, at a symposium, as part of events to celebrate the country’s 60th Independence Anniversary, admonished the federal government on the urgent need to restructure the country, to avoid break up of the federating units.
“Why can’t we have a system of government that will create what I will call the United States of Nigeria? Let me explain. We all know that we must restructure. It is either we restructure or we break, you don’t have to be a prophet to know that one. That is certain – restructure or we break up.
“Now, we don’t want to break up, God forbid. In restructuring, why don’t we have a Nigerian kind of democracy? At the federal level, why don’t we have a President and a Prime Minister?
“If we have a President and a Prime Minister and we share responsibilities between these two so that one is not an appendage to the other. For example, if the President controls the Army and the Prime Minister controls the Police. If the President controls resources like oil and mining and the Prime Minister controls finance and inland revenue, taxes, customs etc. You just divide responsibilities between the two.
“At the state level, you have the governor and the premier, and the same way, you distribute responsibilities between these people in such a manner that one cannot really go without the other. Maybe we might begin to tackle the problems,” Pa Adeboye proposed at the symposium co-organised by the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Nehemiah Leadership Institute.
READ: Nigeria @ 60: Restructure now to avoid break up – Adeboye tells FG
Pastor Adeboye’s tweet was backed by an official statement issued Wednesday by the church and titled, ‘RCCG Identifies with Protesters…Calls for New Policing Strategy’.
The statement, signed by Pastor Johnson F. Odesola, Assistant General Overseer, Administration and Personnel, stated that the Church welcomed the disbandment of SARS by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.
It reads in part: “The Redeemed Christian Church of God identifies with Nigerians presently protesting against police brutality and the abuse of power by the very institution established to protect them.
“The Church declares its understanding and appreciation of the concerns and grievances of the youths and generality of Nigerians and calls for an immediate end to police brutality in the country.
“While noting the constitutional responsibility of the police to maintain law and order, the Church emphasises the need for the police to constantly align their strategies with the needs of the people.
“While noting that many innocent lives have been lost through unnecessary brutality and wrong application of force, the Church calls on the government to not only restructure the police but to also re-orientate the officers towards modern ways of policing.”