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Iluyomade: ‘The disillusionment in RCCG in general is worsening’: Member Kicks
Following the recent resignation of one of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Trinity Towers’ Senior pastors, Idowu Iluyomade, a church member, Funsho Olufemi, who resides in Lagos has expressed his displeasure towards the development.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos, Olufemi noted that the Iluyomades have done so much to build the church of God and to strengthen Christianity in Nigeria, hence they should be reconsidered.
He, however, cautioned the church to desist from politicking which he assumed forced Iluyomade out of RCCG.
He stated, “I wish to make it crystal clear that this use and dump system did not start today. What happened to the Iluyomades is a culture in RCCG. The RCCG has long been rewarding its good and diligent members with frustration and punishment. Those who helped the church to grow are cast away like worthless orange peels.”
He buttressed, “I will give some indisputable examples among many. The first is the case of Pastor Tony Rapu, who pastor This Present House presently.
“Let me inform the world that Pastor Tony Rapu is the father of modern RCCG, what they call Model Parishes which started at Roxy Cinema, Apapa, Lagos. It is not the General Overseer that modernised the Redeemed Church.
“Pastor Rapu was both a Prophet and a visioneer, as he and his contemporaries were sent out to set up the model parishes by Pastor Adeboye. It was Pastor Tony Rapu, a fiery preacher and passionate speaker who took RCCG to the next level with the rise of the model parishes.
“But what happened? Once RCCG gained ground and became popular and influential, the church leadership went after him. They sent Pastor Rapu away to London to start a new parish. It was a calculated ploy to cut his soaring popularity. And from there, they tactically brought him back to Nigeria, left him without a parish, and finally forced him out of RCCG.”
The RCCG member remarked that past pastors had gone through the phase the Iloyomades are currently experiencing.
He noted, “I heard that Pastor Rapu’s successor Pastor Agu Irukwu is facing the same fate today. He is the son of the late insurance mogul, Prof. Joe Irukwu. Pastor Agu as he is popularly known, built Redeemed church into the second biggest and most influential church in London, so big that the current King of England, King Charles III worships there occasionally and even celebrated his birthday at the church. But how was Pastor Irukwu rewarded?
“He was allegedly forced to step aside last year and a young Pastor of Yoruba extraction was used to replace him. This made some members to start saying that it was because both Pastors, Rapu and Agu were Igbos and that Redeemed church under Pastor Adeboye is Yoruba in heart and mind.
“But if you perceived tribal sentiment in their ouster, what about Pastor Ituah Ighodalo? He is practically Yoruba even though hd hail from Edo state.
“Though, his mum is Yoruba and some say she was even related to the G.O. Once Ituah, a most likable Pastor turned Christ Church parish of RCCG at Gbagada into a celebrity and youthful parish, the RCCG hawks from the Camp came after him, as the Governing Council, doing a hatchet job, said he was divorced and so should not head a parish.”
Olufemi further stated, “Idowu Iluyomade whose leadership of City of David has made RCCG a truly global church, especially because of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) which cuts across many countries.
“How can a Pastor build a structure like Trinity Towers, RCCG’s best building in the world and the best way to appreciate his effort is to force him out of the church in a deceitful manner that seeks to humiliate him and his wife? With a lame reason that his wife had a birthday party after the death of a member of the church, although very sad, as an excuse to force them out.”