By Lucky Isibor,
A Benin based pastor, Godstime Oshodi of Grace Chapel International, has appealed to the Edo State government and the various security agencies for protection as according to him, his life is under threat from one of the political parties contesting the 19 September Edo State governorship election as a result of the advise he gave to members of his church as their shepherd.
It will be recalled that Pastor Oshodi while preaching in one of his Sunday services urged members of his congregation not to vote for a particular candidate and party in the 19 September election and allegedly made some derogatory remarks about Benin residents.
He said since he made that comment, his cell phone has been inundated with a lot of threat messages.
“I am here to air my views based on what is going on with me and my ministry. There is a video trending on air that I spoke against the Bini people, that I told my members who to vote and as a person, I was born here in Benin and whoever that has spent 10 years in a country, automatically is a citizen and if I should speak to a Bini person like that or insult them, automatically I am insulting myself”, he said.
He apologised to Benin residents if the statement he made which he said was an adage was misconstrued or interpreted as an insult.
“On that regard, if I made such a statement, it was only an adage and I never meant to insult anybody because I am a Bini man and if I insulted them I am equally insulting myself. I only told my members that these two people who are contesting are Bini men and that why must we be fighting ourselves and that is what I meant by what I said and I did not mean that they are fowls”, he pleaded.
He however called on the various security agencies to come to his rescue noting that his life, family and church are at risk.
“And presently, a lot of threat have been going on and yesterday, some people from All Progressives Congress came to my church while my secretary was on duty to warn them that they have finally found the church where the pastor resides and a lot of threat messages have be coming into my phone and a lot of people have be calling my line to threaten my life and my family.
“My life is at stake here and that is why I am here to cry out to the public that the government should come to my aid. I need security, I need to be protected. They even told me that they will burn my church if care is not taken and that I should not hold service and that is why I am here to air my view.
“The threat started coming in since on Monday while the video started since on Sunday and up till now, the threat is still coming in.
“I have not reported the matter to the Police and the DSS”, he said.
