Arrest us if you want, we’ll keep preaching in buses – PFN

The controversy over the ban on preaching in commercial buses rages as the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria insists that Christians will continue to propagate the gospel, even inside commercial buses.

President of the PFN, Bishop Wale Oke, during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, reacting to the controversial ban, stated: “We will preach in buses if they want to imprison us; let them come and arrest us. We are coming. We will preach in buses; they cannot stop us.”

The Bishop of Sword of the Spirit Ministries International said Christians would “rather obey God than man,” arguing that any restriction on public preaching would violate their constitutional right to propagate their faith.

Defending remarks he made in a viral video while addressing his congregation, Oke reiterated his determination to resist any attempt to prohibit public evangelism.

“Make all the stadiums in Nigeria become a prison if you want to enforce that law. We are coming. We will preach in buses; we will preach everywhere,” he said in the video.

The cleric described the proposal as an attack on Christians rather than a genuine effort to improve public safety.

According to him, the proposed restriction reflected what he saw as a broader pattern of policies targeting Christians.

He added that Nigeria belongs to people of different religious beliefs and should remain so.

While the PFN vowed to resist the restriction and continue preaching in buses as part of its evangelical mandate, the Muslim Rights Concern warned that Muslims would report and hand over violators to law enforcement agencies if the practice persists.

The Islamic rights group, in a statement on Wednesday by its Executive Director, Prof Ishaq Akintola, accused the PFN President of encouraging disobedience to an existing law by insisting that Christians would continue preaching in commercial vehicles despite the ban.

MURIC criticised PFN over its position, warning that Muslims would report and hand over violators to law enforcement agencies if the ban continued to be ignored.

In a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by Akintola, the group accused Oke of encouraging Christians to disobey an existing law by vowing to continue preaching in commercial buses despite the prohibition.

MURIC said the PFN president threatened to mobilise 65 million Christians to continue preaching in commercial buses despite the law banning the practice.

The group warned that Nigerian Muslims would hand over bus preachers to the police if they insisted on allegedly disturbing public peace inside commercial buses.

“Bishop Francis Wale Oke, president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), has threatened to mobilise 65 million Christians to continue preaching in commercial buses despite the law banning bus preaching.

“His exact words were, ‘We will break that law because our master told us to go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and you sit somewhere there and say that we shouldn’t preach in buses?

“We will preach in buses; we will preach everywhere because you are evil and making evil decrees,” MURIC claimed.

The group further stated: “In the first place, this statement constitutes an incitement. Bishop Wale Oke is inciting Nigerian Christians to disobey the law and to cause commotion.

“Secondly, the bishop is aware that preaching in buses violates the law, but he is determined to break it. Note the words, ‘We will break that law’.

“Thirdly, Bishop Wale Oke has failed to realise that there is a line of demarcation between houses of God and public spaces. He believes Christians should preach everywhere, anywhere and at any time without considering the discomfort it may cause others.

“This is rather unfortunate. We are surprised that a whole bishop is insisting on breaking the law even when the Bible teaches otherwise.”

Quoting the Bible, the Islamic group said Romans 13:1-7 encourages obedience to constituted authorities.

“Romans 13:1-7 says, ‘Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

“But here is a bishop misleading Nigerian Christians to ‘receive condemnation upon themselves’ by disobeying the law banning bus preaching. The PFN leader said 65 million Christians are ready to go to jail over bus preaching. It is quite a pity that pity cannot pity itself.”

Akintola argued that the restriction on preaching in commercial vehicles was not a new law but had been part of the Federal Road Safety Corps (Establishment) Act since 2007 and was reinforced by the National Road Traffic Regulations 2012.

According to him, the Senate merely renumbered the relevant provision without changing its substance.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the ban on bus preaching is not new. It has been part of Nigeria’s laws since 2007. Technically, therefore, it is an extant law.

“Even the Senate has recently clarified that the prohibition of preaching and hawking in commercial buses is not a new law but has been part of the Federal Road Safety Corps (Establishment) Act since 2007.

“Contrary to the wrong impression that it is being introduced by the 10th Senate, the provision has always existed under the Federal Road Safety Commission (Establishment) Act, No. 22 of 2007.”

The group added that, pursuant to Section 10(4) of the FRSC (Establishment) Act, 2007, and Regulation 220 of the National Road Traffic Regulations 2012, preaching and hawking in commercial vehicles are already offences,” MURIC said.

MURIC maintained that it would continue to pursue dialogue rather than confrontation.

“It is crystal clear that Bishop Wale Oke is inviting anarchy, but MURIC will toe the path of dialogue because that is our motto: ‘Dialogue, Not Violence.’

The MURIC leader urged Muslims across the country to remain peaceful and avoid confrontation with bus preachers, advising them instead to gather evidence and report offenders to the police or officials of the FRSC.

“We therefore appeal to Muslims nationwide to remain calm and restrain themselves in the face of undue provocation from bus preachers.

“This is not cowardice. It is maturity coupled with humility and piety.

“Instead of reacting when bus preachers make your trips uncomfortable, Muslims are advised to safely gather evidence. They can report the bus preacher to law enforcement agents at police checkpoints or to FRSC officers on the road, and send the evidence to MURIC headquarters as they have been doing,” he said.

He called on the federal and state governments to strictly enforce the existing law banning preaching in commercial buses, saying weak implementation had encouraged violations over the years.

He warned that if the authorities failed to enforce the law, Muslims would challenge bus preachers and hand them over to the police for allegedly disturbing passengers.

“MURIC appeals to the Federal Government and state governments to be firm in implementing the ban on bus preaching. As in so many other instances, this law has suffered from poor implementation, although it has been in existence for 19 years.

“At the appropriate time and with the Kilimanjaro-size mountain of evidence at our disposal, we will approach the authorities.

“If bus preachers are still not arrested after that, Muslims will challenge Christian bus preachers and hand them over to the police if they continue to disturb passengers,” the MURIC leader said. (Punch)