Methodist Church Declares War Against Polygamy

Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Methodist Church Nigeria has declared war on leaders and members who are still having more than one wife. Rising from its Biennial Conference in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, southern Nigeria, the church said it was time to purge the Church of Christ from church workers and members still comfortable with having more than one wife.

A communiqué issued at the end of the 9th Biennial Conference resolved that workers and members practicing polygamy would be stopped from holding any position in the church.

“Conference resolve that any member of the church who goes into a polygamous relationship will henceforth be sanctioned in accordance with the Rules of the Church,” the communiqué said.

The communiqué was signed by Rt. Rev. C. Raphael Opoko, TFG Secretary of Conference and His Eminence, Dr. Samuel Emeka Kanu Uche, Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria.

On the abduction of over 200 female students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, the Conference condemned the callous activities of the Boko Haram insurgents and expressed concern over their continued absence from their families and loved ones.

“While praying for their release from their evil abductors, Conference calls on the Federal Government and the International Community to do everything humanly possible to free these girls and return them to their families.

“Conference prays for divine comfort and succour for the families of these young girls who are experiencing intense traumatic experiences over these incidents,” it said.

In the same vein, the Conference urged all communities at loggerheads across the nation to sheath their swords and embrace peace, saying peace is a vital tool for the development of any nation or society.

“Conference calls on Nigerians to be tolerant of one another and to show respect for other people’s views even when they are diametrically opposed to ours as these are part of the mechanics of having sustainable growth,” it added.

The Conference appealed passionately to those engaged in armed robbery, kidnapping, human trafficking, baby factories, oil bunkering and other terrible vices troubling the society to change their lifestyle for a more positive and productive one and contribute their quota meaningfully to national re-birth.

“Conference also calls on the Federal Government to do more in the area of creating jobs so as to engage unemployed Nigerians (especially the youths) whose population is growing astronomically and is posing itself as a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

“Conference calls on the people of Rivers State to come together and consolidate on the gains of democracy achieved so far under an atmosphere of peace and love. Conference enjoins the political leadership of the state and the citizenry to work together for the future of the state and for the generation unborn,” it said.

While commending members of the national conference for arriving at a consensus on nineteen out of twenty Committee reports, the conference urged them to resolve all issues around the devolution of power, with maturity and love for the nation, urging the National Assembly to adopt all the credible proposals that would move the country forward.

The communiqué also urged all tiers of government to be more pro-active in preventive health care and on the Ebola plague, it advocated concerted efforts on dissemination of information, particularly preventive measures, to the citizens, imploring people to pay attention to personal hygiene and avoid panicking.