Pentecostal Bishops Condemns Rising Insecurity, Hunger in Nigeria
Pentecostal Bishops have been condemning the spate of insecurity and hunger in Nigeria at a rate unprecedented.
They have joined hands with their Catholic counterparts, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, in condemning impunity in high places.
Some of their quotes are outlined below:
Bishop Oyedepo of Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners Chapel) said earlier in February 2026:
“You’re not doing well; you’re not doing well. They must tell you that you’re not doing well. What’s your problem? Hear me, please, hear me. Is this government doing well?”
In August 2026, Bishop Oyedepo roared again at Faith Tabernacle, Ota:
“The President needs to act now and stop pretending. You can’t slaughter members of my family and expect me to pray for you. I will pray against you and your household.”
Bishop Francis Wale Oke, President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and Bishop of Christ Life Chapel, Ibadan, said in August 2026 concerning INEC:
“INEC is a government functionary. It is not part of any political party. INEC is to regulate all political parties and to conduct elections, not to take sides with any,” he said.
“We are demanding that for the exercise of our civil rights, INEC does not partake in partisan politics. The integrity of Nigeria’s democracy hangs in the balance.”
Concerning rising insecurity, Bishop Wale Oke said during the Agape Convention in Akure again in August 2026:
“There are radicals who are bent on turning Nigeria into a caliphate state. But the constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of worship,” he said.
“To use violence and kinetic means to unlawfully take lives in the name of religion — that is satanic, that is wrong. And the government should come hard on that.
“Kidnapping is criminal. Taking children from school is criminal. Beheading is criminal. If anybody is doing that in the name of religion, he is a criminal, whether he is from the Christian side or from the Islamic side.”
Apostle Johnson Suleman of Omega Ministries told President Tinubu in June 2026 to resign. According to him:
“If the President cannot deal with the sponsors of terrorism, he should resign and allow someone else to take over. The young boys carrying AK‑47s today are the children of those who were brought into the country years ago. Go after the sponsors behind it.”
Founder of Salvation Ministries, Pastor David Ibiyeomie, condemned the recent ban on preaching in commercial buses, saying Christians should have the same freedom to publicly practise their faith as Muslims.
Speaking during a church service, Ibiyeomie said preventing Christians from preaching in buses while allowing Muslims to use loudspeakers amounted to unequal treatment.
“Allow Christians alone. As we allow Muslims, also allow Christians. If Muslims can also raise their microphone, we are free to preach. There is freedom of religion,” he said.
Ibiyeomie warned against any policy that he believed unfairly targeted Christian evangelism. “I will never be alive to see Christianity humiliated in Nigeria. Never,” he said.
Pastor Paul Enenche of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Abuja, said to Tinubu concerning the rising insecurity:
“You’re rejected. Nigerians don’t want you. Stop forcing yourself on them.”
Continuing, Enenche said:
“Attempts to win the trust of the people through bribery, coercion, or backdoor compromises are not just political tactics; they are betrayals. Betrayals of trust. Betrayals of democracy. Betrayals of a nation already stretched thin by disappointment.
If the people are clearly saying no, then forcing a yes is not leadership.”
He also alleged attempts to turn Nigeria into an Islamic nation but insisted it would not succeed. “They want to turn Nigeria into an Islamic nation… Nigeria will never be an Islamic nation,” he added.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria recently met President Bola Tinubu and complained of hunger, rising insecurity, and the need for fairness from INEC. Cardinal John Onaiyekan later clarified that the President did not listen to their pleas.
This explanation from Cardinal Onaiyekan caused the spokespersons of the President of Nigeria to abuse him and call him partisan.
Rev. Obinna Akukwe hereby congratulates all the Christian leaders — Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal — who spoke for the masses of Nigeria. Any religious minister who cannot see the rising insecurity, hunger, meddlesomeness of INEC, and the anti‑graft agencies has sold his faith.
Rev. Obinna Akukwe advises President Tinubu to take the criticisms as a wake‑up call to do more to bring about the realization of his Renewed Hope Agenda, which his overzealous followers have turned into Renewed Hopefulness.
2 Chronicles 7:14 says that if God’s people humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from bad ways, He will hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal the land.
When the Church rids itself of corruption and sentiments, it can then call upon God, and He will answer from heaven.
Rev. Obinna Akukwe, Church Leader, Columnist, Human Rights Activist