The headquarters of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) denies sending delegates to support the senior pastor of COZA, Biodun Fatoyinbo. The senior pastor, who had been accused of r**e, had come under fire from the public. Following his open letter denying the allegations, he had taken a leave of absence from his position — still pleading innocent.
On Sunday, 15th July 2019, a video went viral on social media. In the video, the leader of CAN Northcentral, Israel Akanji, and FCT Chapter, Jonah Samson were seen at the Abuja COZA branch openly declaring their support for Pastor Fatoyinbo. They pledged to stand and support Biodun Fatoyinbo who had been accused of r****g the wife of singer Timi Dakolo, Busola, and another anonymous lady.
The alleged support came in after CAN publicly said COZA and Pastor Fatoyinbo are not members of CAN. Due to the contradiction, it caused outrage after the video of the representatives went viral.
However, according to a report from @DangPosts on Twitter, CAN Headquarters never sent the delegates.
Read her report about CAN headquarters below
I have just spoken to Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, the spokesperson for CAN president.
He has said in clear terms that CAN HQ was not informed that Rev Dr. Israel Akanji and Rev Jonah Samson would visit COZA yesterday.
He said “they went there on behalf of their OWN office, not
— diaryofanaijagirl.ng (@DANGposts) July 15, 2019
on behalf of National CAN.”
DANG: Has COZA finally joined CAN?
Pastor Oladeji: No, that man is not a member of CAN…
DANG: Does CAN approve of this visit to COZA by its representatives when an investigation has not been carried out on Biodun Fatoyinbo?
— diaryofanaijagirl.ng (@DANGposts) July 15, 2019
Pastor Oladeji: At the moment PFN (Pentecostal Felllowship of Nigeria) is carrying out an investigation, because even if COZA is not a member of CAN nor PFN, it is still a church and we have an obligation to find out what is really happening.
— diaryofanaijagirl.ng (@DANGposts) July 15, 2019
DANG: So Pastor Rev. Samson and Rev. Dr. Israel didn’t get a sign off from CAN before they proceeded to publicly endorse a man who has been accused of r**e?”
Pastor Oladeji: No, CAN didn’t sign off. But we can’t say anything about it for now until we get a report from them.
— diaryofanaijagirl.ng (@DANGposts) July 15, 2019
DANG: Report from who?
Pastor Oladeji: Report from the the FCT and North Central Branch. Because you know, some people have done a lot of things, CAN said ‘well done.’ While some people have done a lot of things and we said ‘You shouldn’t have done that’….”
— diaryofanaijagirl.ng (@DANGposts) July 15, 2019
DANG; So what category does this fall under? ‘Well done or you shouldn’t have done that?’
Pastor Oladeji: I don’t know, until they submit their report.
™️Diaryofanaijagirl ©️
— diaryofanaijagirl.ng (@DANGposts) July 15, 2019