‘I can smell a rat’ — Oyedepo kicks against church closure

The Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide, widely known as Winners’ Chapel International, David Oyedepo, has called out the federal government over the continued closure of churches across the country while markets are opened.

Speaking during the Covenant Hour of Prayer Programme on Wednesday, the clergyman wondered why markets could be opened for six hours but churches are not allowed to be opened for even two hours.

Oyedepo alleged the move could be an attempt by the government to stifle the growth of the church in Nigeria.

His words: “There is something wrong. For people to be allowed to be in the market for six hours and can’t be in church for two hours, it is an upside-down way of looking at things. Which one is more orderly? The market or the church?

“I can smell a rat. The Lord spoke to me on it so strong yesterday. I can smell a rat. Behind all this, how do we stop the church from exploding? The people involved don’t know it.

“The voice of darkness is influencing people at various levels, targeting the church because the growth and expansion of the church is the greatest headache of the devil. But the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The devil and all his agents shall surely pay for this.

“I don’t know what hospital that records the kind of healings that the church of God records. And now hospitals, where people die every day, are open, but the church is closed because the oppression of the devil has no medical cure.”

His comment comes days after President of the LoveWorld Incorporated, better known as Christ Embassy, Chris Oyakhilome, also took a swipe for church leaders who agreed to the lockdown of churches without praying and consulting with other pastors.