A Catholic priest in Nigeria has said that the nation’s presidency and the National Assembly, including government houses across the country, are filled with “witches” who are “responsible for the death” of many Nigerians.
“Don’t get carried away, which witches and wizards am I talking about? It’s not all those ones they say fly at night and with brooms. Ah, those ones are not your problem.
“The witches and wizards I am talking about, they are in the presidency, in the National Assembly, in government houses,” the priest, John Oluoma, said in a sermon last month in Abuja.
The sermon is on Mr Oluoma’s personal website, www.froluoma.com.
Mr Oluoma, according to the website, is a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja.
What the priest meant here, apparently, is that leaders who have held down Nigeria, including ordinary citizens who have failed in their service delivery, thereby leading to loss of lives should be branded as “witches”.
“They are civil servants, they are politicians, they are Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. They are Catholics, Pentecostals, Protestants, Christians, and Muslims.
“If you are given money to do road and you don’t do the road and somebody has an accident because of bad road and die, what do you think you are? You are a witch! You have taken blood.
“You are given money to equip hospitals, you refused to build the hospital or even equip it, and the medical attention that would have saved somebody is not there and the person dies, what do you think you are? You are a witch!
“In Nigeria, pensioners would be queuing to take their pensions of N50,000 and they wait and wait until some would die because somebody doesn’t want to push their file or somebody has swallowed the money meant for their pensions. And you tell me you are a human being? No, you are a witch!
“Those are the ones you should be afraid of, forget about the ones that some men of God would be telling you about. The witches and wizards that have killed destinies in Nigeria they are presidents, governors, senators, members of the House of Reps, civil servants, and contractors.”
Mr Oluoma said Aso Rock, the nation’s seat of power in Abuja, has truncated the “destinies” of many Nigerians.
The Catholic priest also called out Nigerian pastors.
“Another set of witches in Nigeria are fake pastors and men of God, those ones who have given people wrong, pseudo-religious theories. They have destroyed marriages, bankrupted businesses, and made people to start thinking backward. They even block you from seeing where your real problem is coming (from).
“Men of God that come into a family and a brother would become afraid of his own brother,” he said.
The priest, who was teaching his congregation on why Nigerians should be grateful to God, said Nigerians are only surviving by God’s grace these days.
“That you are still alive in Nigeria, you should be giving thanks to God. The things that can kill, the things that have killed hundreds of thousands of people are still there and they seem to be increasing.
“If it is not bad road, it can be a reckless driver. If it is not a reckless driver, it can be a dubious spare parts seller who would carry expired brake pad or inferior one and tell you it is original, made in Germany. And then you’ll pay money for it.
“If you escape all these ones, what of armed robbers, bandits, Boko Haram, herdsmen?
“Even common malaria that has been eradicated in some countries for years is still killing people in Nigeria.
“What about quack doctors or fake drug dealers?
“If you escape all those ones, PDP is here to kill you. If you escape PDP, APC is there. If you escape APC, the Nigerian police is there,” he said.
