13 Churches berate Bakare over anti-CAN comments

According to the Guardian, a CONGLOMERATION of 13 churches under the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has berated the Overseer of Latter Rain Bible Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, for his comments on the association's protest against alleged derogatory statements made against Jesus Christ by a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

Bakare was alleged to have, at a recent press briefing on the state of the nation in Lagos, said that from CAN's criticism of El-Rufai's tweet on Jesus Christ, the association was only diverting attention from grave issues affecting the country. He also allegedly described CAN as an extension of government.
But the 13 churches, under the aegis of Tarayar Ekklisiyar Kristi A Nijeriya (TEKAN) in Hausa language, said they were not surprised by Bakare's remarks because he is more of a politician than a pastor. President of TEKAN, Rev. Emmanuel Dzieggau, in an interview with journalists in Abuja, reminded Bakare that God would fight whoever makes derogatory remarks about Him.
He urged Nigerians to disregard comments from people like Bakare, saying if not in Nigeria, nobody will entertain a man like Bakare who, he alleged, double speaks. Dzieggau said that Nigerians should rather not take him serious because he has not recovered from the shock of the lost election, "and that is what is affecting him."

The TEKAN president said: "We read the story credited to Tunde Bakare. First of all, he is not a member of CAN and we are not surprised because he is more of a politician than a pastor. One day he will wake up and speak as a politician and another day he will speak as a pastor.

"But for him to say that CAN has no right to speak on somebody like El-Rufai, who derogates the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a very grave offence. We want to tell Bakare to come out clearly and tell us where he belongs, either a Christian or a Muslim, because he cannot be speaking from the two sides of his mouth.

"We are not surprised to see him abusing CAN and supporting El-Rufai's reckless statement. It goes to show his character. If it were to be the other way round that a Christian made a derogatory remark against Prophet Mohammed, the country would have by now been on fire.
"But because we are not going to fight for our God, we have left El-Rufai in the hands of God. According to him, anybody who speaks ill of Jesus Christ does not go scot-free, because the God in heaven knows how to deal with him."

The president added: "What does Bakare know about CAN for him to say that CAN is a department of government? What has the issue of Jesus Christ sleeping with women got to do with government? CAN has never been an appendage of government but has been known to be a constructive critic of the authorities.

"If inciting people against government is what Bakare is looking for, he will fail because CAN is a responsible organisation. Because Bakare lost election, he has been inciting people against the Federal Government, but we will not toe his line of thought and he should not compare CAN with the madness they do in politics.

"For El-Rufai, we are telling him to go in secret and seek forgiveness from Jesus Christ because nobody insults God and goes free."