…Citing “unconstitutionality” by Church President.
by Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
The Ccrises rocking Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa Nigeria (EYN) Church has began to manifest full blown, as leaders of the church, with Headquarters in Kwarhi Mubi in Adamawa State, reportedly staged a walkout during a meeting with the church representatives, saying “it’s unconstitutional.”
This was contained in a statement by the aggrieved members of the Church representatives, led by Rev. Kallamu Musa Ali Dikwa, Bro. YY Balami, Prof. Apagu Vandi, Rev. Kefas Ngari and Barr. Dauda Hassan, respectively.
The aggrieved members stated that, after the prayers, EYN President, Rev. Joel Billi, and the members of the National Standing Committee refused to discuss the agenda of the meeting with them before they staged walkout of the meeting.
According to the report on their meeting with the Church President and members of the committee, the aggrieved church representatives were ushered into waiting room by the Secretary before the President had brief meeting with church committee comprising VP, General Secretary, Admin Secretary, all Directors and Provost of Kulp Theological Seminary.
The meeting, according to a release made available to our correspondent, was to discuss, among other salient issues bothering on alleged reckless attitude of Rev Billi’s administration as President of EYN vis-à-vis bringing other religions into another, with the aim to politicize the church and the ungodly attitude of the leaders leading to affecting the country Nigeria.
They further stated that, “After we were ushered into his waiting room by his Secretary, he had a brief meeting with his Committee comprising of the VP, GS, Admin Secretary ALL Directors and Provost of Kulp Theological Seminary.
“We were later called in and the President asked the Secretary of the Ministers Council to open the meeting with a word of prayer.
“After the prayers, the President said he is not going to discuss any agenda with us because we are not a group known to the EYN Constitution, hence discussing anything with us will make nonsense of the constitution and people will say they are idiots. He vehemently refused anyone to say a word.
“He only asked the members of the committee, if what he said was right, and the VP concurred with him. On that note, he stood up and others with him to leave.
“We drew his attention to the fact not even a closing prayer was offered by that time he was walking out on us from the conference table to his seat and said we can pray, if we want to pray. Others followed him and the meeting came to a close. That’s briefly of what transpired,” the reps stated.
Earlier, the aggrieved representative Church members stated that, “Our Reps (Bro. YY Balami, Prof. Apagu Vandi, Rev. Kefas Ngari and Barr. Dauda Hassan), met with the President and the members of the National Standing Committee on Thursday the 18th of January 2024 in his office at the EYN Headquarters, Kwarhi Mubi, in Adamawa State around 3pm.
“After we were ushered into his waiting room by his Secretary, Rev Billi had a brief meeting with his Committee, comprising of the VP, GS, Admin Secretary ALL Directors and Provost of Kulp Theological Seminary. We were later called in and the President asked the Secretary of the Ministers Council to open the meeting with a word of prayer.
“This is the report of the concerned members and Clergies that went to the President for dialogue and he refused,” it stated.
Similarly, it was also reported that the Church Directors have given Rev Joel Billi, the EYN President, and the church Board of Trustees (BOT), national standing committee (NSC) or national executive committee (NEC) ample time to respond, but to no avail. “They never responded for about 8 months. It’s verifiable facts.
“It’s a 100 percent fact. Some concerned members and Clergies of the Church went to him to talk about the press release and he, the president, sent them away without allowing them to say a word.
Recall that EYN (CBN), Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, has EYN Church Farm Center Maiduguri, Borno State capital.