It was jubilation galore at the headquarters of the Assemblies of God Church in Enugu yesterday as members of the church expressed joy over the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant an injunction seeking to stop Rev. Prof. Paul Emeka from parading himself as the General Superintendent (GS) of the church.

The church had been engulfed in a protracted leadership crisis that led to it splitting into two factions with the GS, Prof. Emeka leading one faction and his former Assistant, Rev. Dr. Chidi Okoroafor, leading the other.

Okoroafor-led faction had in their bid to stop Emeka, whom it purportedly suspended had approached the court to stop him from parading himself as the GS of the church, a matter that went through High Court in Enugu to the Supreme Court, and both parties hung their fate to the determination of a motion.

Victory came the way of Emeka’s faction as the Supreme Court on Tuesday allegedly refused to grant a motion by the Okoroafor-led faction, which sought an injunction restraining Emeka from parading himself as the General Superintendent.

Addressing the jubilant members and newsmen on the latest development, Prof. Emeka, flanked by other leaders of the church, described the ruling of the apex court as “victory of truth over falsehood.”

He commended the court for standing on the side of truth, noting that his traducers had boasted that as soon as they get the injunction, they would come and eject him, adding that God has exposed their lies.

He said, “If they had succeeded, violent as they are, they would have come here to cause trouble. But the good thing is that the injunction they were seeking was not given to them; it was not even entertained. I am happy because they lied and their lies have failed, to the glory of God.”

On efforts at bringing peace to the church, the GS said, “We are so much interested in peace and we have demonstrated it several times. We have been to the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, when they made their decision known, we accepted it; the other party refused. We went to CAN, they gave directive, and we accepted it for peace to reign, the other side refused.

“All they do is to be writing petition here and there, once you tell them the truth, they will start writing petition against you. They have written petitions against Enugu High Court Judge, Commissioner of Police and the Inspector General of Police.

“I thank God over the decision of the court. We shall continue to hold on to this mandate to His own glory. It is not good to give up easily. If you have a mandate from God and you have not received a contrary message from Him, don’t give up such mandate no matter the situation, no matter the sentiments people will throw up.” (Sunday Sun)

•Photo shows Assemblies of God Headquarters, Enugu.

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