How Pastors are aiding, abetting illegal migration – Oba Ehizogie Eluogierior
HRH Ehizogie Eluogierior
Published By: Michael Adesina
By Jethro Ibileke
The traditional ruler of Igueben, Edo State, HRH Ehizogie Eluogierior, has accused some pastors of aiding and abetting irregular migration in the state.
He made the accusation last weekend, at a Social Dialogue and Interfaith forum with traditional and religious leaders in Edo Central Senatorial District, organized by the Justice Development Peace and Caritas Initiative JDPCI, of the Uromi Catholic Diocese.
The monarch noted that the pastors encourage potential illegal migrants to cross the Sahara desert or the Mediterranean Sea by using their pulpit to pray for them.
According to him, most of the pastors use their Sunday service to praise and thank God for those who are able to cross the Sahara desert or are using pictures of those on the verge of crossing the sea in their prayer points.
The monarch noted that the menace has reduced drastically at Igueben, after he placed a curse on sponsors of illegal migration, the same way the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II did.
He therefore challenged pastors and the Christian community to use their churches to do the same by preaching against the evil.
“We gathered the people and placed a curse on those sponsoring Illegal migration. And I’ll say since that time if the record we have is correct, there is a massive decrease of people migrating from that area.
“I think the Catholic Church have been very active in this area, but can we say so with the pastors that we have all over Esan and beyond?
“The pastors we have now, they wake up, they say God called them, they are the people we want to reach one way or the other in this human trafficking issue, because majority of them attend their service either praising God, thanking God for those who have crossed the Lybia desert.
“They’re the ones sponsoring people and they are still doing it in their churches. If they’re not praising God today for those who have crossed the desert, you know behind the scene they’re putting their pictures in their prayer points”.
Also speaking, an Uromi-based clergy, Archbishop Anthony Okosun, agreed with the Onojie of Igueben on the complicity of some pastors in encouraging illegal migration.
Bishop Okosun who decried the new crave for illegal wealth by young people with the active support of parents, counseled that money is not everything.
“It’s unfortunate that a mother will be dancing from street to street, the father wearing agbada that their son is doing very well, that a child of 15 years has built mansions without doing any job, all because he has travelled to Ghana,” Okosun said.
