The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in 19 Northern states and Abuja and President of International Church Growth Ministry have spoke about the r*pe allegatins against COZA founder, Biodun Fatoyinbo, Vanguard reports.
They condemned the act and were unanimous in their call for the accused pastor to step aside and allow for thorough investigation of the allegations.
Chairman of Northern CAN, Rev. Yakubu Pam, and frontline Church Growth expert, Dr. Francis Akin-John, argued that any man of God who cannot control his libido should have nothing to do near a pulpit. Pam opined that the office of a pastor ordinarily was a very exalted position, adding that for anyone to have debased himself to do such despicable thing was condemnable.
He said: “It’s not the kind of thing ears are supposed to hear of ordinary church members, let alone a pastor. I think it is high time for Christian Association of Nigeria to mandate the bloc leaders to start scrutinizing candidates to be accepted as pastors.
“There should be a means of ascertaining those to be admitted as pastors in this country, because some of these pastors who come in through the back door are giving the church a bad name.
‘’It’s only in Nigeria that the church is well united through CAN and I believe if care is not taken about how we recruit our followers, especially our clergy men, and frown at certain things happening around the church, then we will begin to loose our ground gradually from the society.”
According to him, what has happened now is a wake up call for all Christian leaders in the country to put their houses in order.
He added that as the immediate supervisor of the embattled cleric, Northern CAN would immediately set up a committee to investigate and ascertain where he is from and find out from his local government of origin to know about his background before taking any action.
He also promised to reach out to the victim and her family members and appease them, noting that there was very little the church could do now beyond making peace with the aggrieved victim and her family members.