The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has called for the arrest of Bishop David Oyedepo for flouting the new order on social gathering and endangering the lives of his members.
Bishop Oyedepo, the General Overseer of the Living Faith Church Worldwide aka Winners Chapel held a Sunday church service at its headquarters after the Federal and Ogun state governments placed a ban on large gatherings to curb the spread of the Coronavirus outbreak.
On Wednesday evening, a statement by Yerima Shettima, AYCF National President, said the cleric was still walking the streets of Nigeria freely despite flouting the federal and state governments’ ban on large gatherings over the coronavirus outbreak.#
The statement reads;
“Pastor Oyedepo has openly shown not only his disdain for the rule of law but also the value of human life. He has chosen to endanger the lives of many of his innocent followers by deliberately refusing to be guided in face of this global pandemic
“We therefore challenge Pastor Oyedepo to tell us if he did not take advantage of his closeness to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in this flagrant disobedience to Nigerian laws and the United Nation’s Charter on the safety of human lives.
“He owes this nation full explanation for being the only Nigerian to indulge in creating a gathering of the Ibadan Canaan magnitude, when the restriction of movement is respected all over world because of the current pandemic.
“We therefore share the view of all prominent Nigerians that this Pastor should be promptly arrested for endangering the lives of innocent Nigerians, recklessly using religion as a cover.
“We hope the Nigerian security agencies will swing into action so that the prompt arrest of this callous clergyman would serve as a deterrent to others”.
Meanwhile, The Church had earlier explained that the service was not an attempt to display civil disobedience but to use the opportunity to sensitize members, who might not be educated enough, about the reality of the dreaded disease.
God will lay hand on our president, I pray for quick recovery in JESUS name