ECWA Denies Forcefully Converting Muslims, Almajiri to Christians in Plateau
Seriki Adinoyi in Jos
Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has denied that the Department of State Security (DSS) agents raided one of its facilities in Jos, Plateau State, where 21 Muslims/Almajiri were held hostage and forcefully converted to Christians.
Describing the claim as false and misleading, ECWA President, Dr. Stephen Baba Panya, said it’s a deliberate effort to discredit the church and cause religious crisis.
To present the fact, Panya, in a statement, said ECWA Discipleship Unit is established under the ECWA Church-Related Ministries Department of the ECWA headquarters.
He said: “The unit, among other activities, trains the less privileged in the society for capacity building, skill acquisition, Christian ethics and leadership skills with the sole purpose of making them relevant to the society. It also quips the trainees, upon completion of their one-year training, with tools that would help them to establish themselves.
“For lack of space at the ECWA headquarters, the office acquired a private property within Tudun Wada residential area in Jos as a temporary site for the training and housing of all trainees.
“The trainees at the property, before being enrolled, are expected to provide the name of their sponsors and pay a mandatory sum of N75, 000 to cover feeding and training fees, and as a practice, the unit maintains a file for each student containing his or her personal data.
“Trainees at the facility, as a matter of policy, are all adults with none falling below the age of 18, and are free to withdraw from the training once they are dissatisfied with either the policies or the condition of the facility. Management also has the right to withdraw a trainee on grounds of infringement of the rules and regulations of the facility.
“The unit, from its inception, has graduated over 86 trainees spread across different parts of Nigeria with various skills. Prior to June 14, 2022, the property accommodated 24 trainees with a list of pending applicants waiting for space for enrolment.”
The cleric said the church was shocked over the false allegations that the trainees at the property are citizens that were forcefully brought to it for the purpose of forcefully converting them to Christians.
“These allegations are complete falsehood because the trainees being persons of age are available at any time for government officials to interact with, and hear their respective stories, just as was done by the DSS) recently,” Panya affirmed.
He said that following a report by the Jamatu Nasiru Islam (JNI) in Jos, the DSS visited the facility and accordingly interviewed the occupants who freely disclosed to the security agents that they enrolled on the programme at their own volition and were not forced, “except Abdulrahman Hussaini’s brother, who opted to leave with his brother Abdulrahaman, and were released to the DSS without any excitation.”
The president alleged that the Hussaini brothers were planted as moles for the purpose of discrediting the good works of the church unit, where thousands of trainees have benefited and are now living as responsible members of the society.
According to him, “Trainees are even given two weeks break six months after their stay in the facility to get back and prepare for the final lap of their training. It is of the moment to note that the Hussani brothers have gone on this break and returned on their own volition.”
He said ECWA believes in the rule of law, and would not involve itself in the infringement of the fundamental rights of any Nigerian to his freedom of religion, movement, or association.
