“Don’t employ anyone from 2022 and 2023 without asking God because they turned this country upside down.”
Reactions have followed a statement by the General Overseer of the Salvation Ministries, headquartered in Rivers State, Pastor David Ibiyeomie, for saying members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, sold their birthrights and compromised the 2023 general elections.
Ibiyeomie in a trending video sermon added that corps members from the 2022 and 2023 batches should not be employed because they were corrupt and turned the country upside down.
In the sermon seen by SaharaReporters, he said, “Corps members sold their birthrights. Any “corper” from 2022, 2023, you must pray well before you employ them. When you want to employ them, you must pray, God, is this among the corrupt or uncorrupt ones?
“Don’t employ anyone from 2022 and 2023 without asking God because they turned this country upside down.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLZ4CjYf6Us
In one of the reactions to the cleric’s statement, the College of Bishops and Imams, a group, said Ibiyeomie should apologise for desecrating the NYSC and over his utterances on the conduct of corps members.
The Convener of the college, Abel Oduma Joshua, who spoke with newsmen in Abuja called for unreserved apology to serving corps members and to the NYSC directorate looking at the hate and incitement the sermon had generated.
Joshua noted that utterances such as from the cleric would expose corps members to harm and make them targets of political actors while they were only offering themselves for national service.
"In keeping with the teachings of Apostle Paul, Pastor Ibiyeomie is supposed to have known that leadership comes from God and that participation in civic duties is a divine duty to God and the nation just like the payment of tithes. To single out corps members for ridicule and attack over an election they risked their lives to conduct does not speak well of a man who is called by God to be the shepherd.
“As a pastor whose ministry is dedicated to the salvation of souls, it is sad that Ibiyeomie chose to rather destroy the souls and future of corps members in the country probably because his candidate of choice did not win the presidential elections. The unfortunate thing is that most of those who listened to that message may have already made up their minds to see every corps member as a fraud and will not hesitate to treat them as such. This is an incitement to violence and a threat to national security.
"Turning the altar to a platform for political discourse weakens the resolve of members who are not of the same persuasion with you. In fact, of all places, the church is supposed to be a neutral place of worship and consolation.
“At this period in the history of country, we call on security agencies to be extra vigilant and investigate every form of incitement. Religious leaders and institutions all over the country must be monitored to ensure that they are not spreading hate and incitement through their sermons and utterances. This is not a time to preach hate but a time to heal and unite. Elections must not be seen as a do-or-die affair,” he said.