Call Obinim to order now!
One of the best things that has happened to our country is the adoption of the current democratic dispensation, with its allied rights and responsibilities.
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The 1992 Constitution, like the standard treatment guidelines document used by health practitioners, has directed our lives and regulated our actions and inaction since the beginning of this democratic era.
Article 21 of the Constitution states: “All persons shall have the right to (a) freedom of speech and expression, which shall include freedom of the press and other media; (b) freedom of thought, conscience and belief, which shall include academic freedom; (c) freedom to practise any religion and to manifest such practice.”
The constitutional right that guarantees freedom of association and, therefore, religion, has, without doubt, opened the floodgates for the springing up of churches and other religious groups which have succeeded in garnering followership with their doctrinal postulations.
But the fact remains constant that the doctrinal position of any religious body must be in line with the fundamental human right dictates of our Constitution.
This is to say that every religious activity must be within the ambit of the law, for which reason any errant practice must be identified and stopped.
A popular and regular case is that of the Founder and General Overseer of the International God’s Way Church (IGWC), Bishop Daniel Obinim, who, for some time now, has engaged in practices that violate the rights of his church members, all in the name of God.
In one instance, he was seen using his leg and stamping on the stomach of a pregnant woman in what he described as delivering her from evil forces.
But the latest in the series of bizarre acts by Bishop Obinim was the callous whipping of two young persons in the full glare of the church which was aired on his television network, the OBTV.
We call on all men of goodwill and religious leaders to stand up against the ‘madness’ of Bishop Obinim in the name of God. His actions can no longer be tolerated under the guise of religious freedom.
The Daily Graphic believes that if Bishop Obinim’s religious bigotry is not stopped pretty soon, a more bizarre treatment will be visited on his congregation.
Let it not be said that really religion has become the opium of the masses, as Bishop Obinim takes his congregation through strange practices not founded in the teachings of Jesus Christ without a single person raising his or her finger against this false prophet of God.
The Daily Graphic entreats the various state organisations to crack the whip and take the necessary actions to ensure that this kind of ‘madness’ does not recur.