Kwara pastor says security threat forced evacuation of ministry camp

Reverend Isaac Omolehin, founder of Word Assembly Ministries in Ilorin, Kwara State, says security threats forced the evacuation of his ministry camp and scattered the people living there. In an interview, Omolehin attributed the hostility partly to his criticism of denominational divisions within Nigerian Christianity. He argued that Christians were often raised primarily within denominational identities rather than as members of a united Christian body.

He called for leadership capable of attracting support across denominational lines and said Christian organisations needed figures who were not identified primarily with a single denomination. He also referred to the Christian Association of Nigeria’s opposition to Muslim-Muslim political tickets, saying the organisation had been ignored. Omolehin said he had faced criticism and attacks from churches, including a ban on preaching in Baptist churches.

He said such opposition had not changed his position or stopped his preaching. He said police visited his camp at night about one and a half to two months before the interview and instructed people to leave because bandits and kidnappers were expected to attack him. Omolehin said the camp had remained deserted for two months.

He added that he was living in an undisclosed location in Ilorin and could not return to his house or use his car. He said his family members had been scattered and that he was being sought for killing. According to Omolehin, more than 80 orphaned children and staff had been based at the camp.

It also housed primary and secondary schools, a hospital, an old people’s home and a rehabilitation centre for mentally challenged women and their children. He said the evacuation had disrupted care for these groups, describing the situation as ongoing physical persecution. The supplied material contains no response from the churches or security authorities to his account.