Katung

How Jos lost her Innocence! Their target is to shift the  headquarters of Organisation of Islamic Countries in Nigeria from Kano to Jos. They always get money from Saudi Arabia to spread Islam … More

Bishop Katung is a fire brand Pentecostal preacher in Northern Nigeria. At the Service of Songs held at the Ecumenical Centre, Abuja in memory of the slain Christians during the Boko Haram carnage that took place in Maiduguri and some other parts of Northern Nigeria some years ago, Bishop Katung became an instant character for media attention. His closing prayer shook the hall that people were asking who is this preacher. The fire, authority and anointing in his words sent so many bodies shivering. That moment, it was clear to so many journalists that there are so many preachers in the North who have not come to national attention because their location in the far North has cut them away from the attention of Lagos press. Elifeonline decided to travel to Jos to probe his mind on various issues. Excerpts from an interview conducted by Bola Adewara at his church, Maranatha Bible Church, Jos.

When and where were you called to the ministry?
It started in 1976 during my secondary school days after I had an encounter with the Holy Spirit. I remember my senior friends would come and tell us that if we could get the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire, we can turn the whole world upside down. I was in love with anything radical, I just want anything different and that arrested my curiosity. I wanted to find out what is the power all about and they were teaching us in details. We became more and more hungry. Many times i find myself at the back of the hostel, crying and telling God I want that power. Suddenly, one day I found myself praying in tongues. With boldness I went to tell the leaders of the fellowship I have a message to preach. I preached the scripture, it was so strong. The following day they called me to become the Bible study secretary.

How did it now move to having a church, Maranatha?
After being in the ministry for 11 years, I left Kaduna for Jos to meet the lady I wanted to marry. She was working with NASCO, a famous company in Jos. When I knew it was getting close to getting married, she could not get transferred to where I was so I had to move to Jos.

You must have come through a lot of challenges in this town, especially this Christian – Moslem carnage. What was the state of Christianity when you came into Jos?
There was no trouble at that time. The religious trouble we experienced was in Kaduna. The first crisis broke in 1984 after one of our friends Abubakar Bako, a former Moslem went to preach in Kafanchan, a town in Kaduna state. That a muslim could convert to Christianity and began to preach angered the Muslims and they began the confusion.

Where is Abubakar Bako now?
He is in Ghana. He left Nigeria because they wanted to kill him at all cost. He comes in and out of Nigeria now. They cant recognize him anymore. After that crisis in Kafanchan, it spread to Zango Kataf in 1991, by that time, I was already in Jos.

What would you say is the cause of this incessant religious crisis in the Northern Nigeria?
In Islam, you can not separate politics and religion. Islam is a way of life. It governs how they live. If they say it is political, it is a lie. If they say it is just religious, its also a lie. It is a combination of both because they are taught to govern the world. The same was what they practiced in the Koran, that is why they look for nations to capture.
You as a Christian, you are taught to evangelize and win souls. But they are taught to target nations by violence, force, politically, economically. Islam targets three areas of power; political, economic, and then religious power. If you check Nigeria now, that is why they have gotten political power already. Put a Moslem somewhere, in six months he will turn everything upside down, that is why even in Plateau, they have longed to be made Deputy Governor. If you make them deputy governor and something happens to the governor for six months, they will bring the state 20 years backward because of what they have in their agenda. Some of them are more fanatical than others.

When we spoke with Rev. Agbana, he said that every Friday is a tension period for them in Maiduguri, is that the story here in Jos?
It used to be like that immediately after any crisis. There will be rumours and counter rumours. What the government used to do, they used to alert the soldiers to come out and patrol round the town every Friday. So that has guaranteed a measure of peace. And by the way, we Christians are not afraid of them. Jos or Plateaus state is a Christian state. We out number them. They have dared us before and they know how they suffered. They will not repeat that mistake again.

The bible say Christians should ‘turning the other cheek’ every time. For how long will this turning of cheek continues?
Naturally Christians are not violent. You will never think of attacking your neighbour, no mater what. The crisis always happen when the people cant face the poverty confronting them again, so they just want to loot. In order to live, they have to kill and terrorize the people. We always turn the other cheek. It was later we try to look at how to defend ourselves so as not to always incur damages they inflict on us. They will cause the problem and they will start doing propaganda. Their target is to shift the  headquarters of Organisation of Islamic Countries in Nigeria from Kano to Jos. They are sponsored by powerful people outside the country to run down Nigeria.

When things like this happen, has there been compensation, even when Churches complain?
It has never been done. There have never been any compensation since 2001, 2004, none at al. The first time it happened was in Kaduna in 1984 and Katsina, they gave them money and some of them relocated.

What do you think can be done to make Moslems tolerate others and stop killing?
I don’t know. In Jos here, they are outnumbered. There re more Christians than them, may be ten to one.
We have to increase the level of education because most of these guys are illiterate. You can’t see people who go to the same school you went to now start killing another man.

It’s like they have never arrested any sponsor of this killings.
The government both at state and Federal level know them. Even all the Governors in the North know them. You know at times they raise them to intimidate their political opponents. They always get money from Saudi Arabia to spread Islam but they end up personalizing some of the money. They go there to make commitments to deliver Nigeria to Islam.

You must have been listening to sermons on the TV, how do you assess the quality of sermons by Nigerian preachers?
It has been watered down, people are not given to the word of God. They are finding way to make a living. A lot of people in ministry don’t have business there. God has not called them. They are just doing emotional things to capture people. Creating miracles and manipulating people for the sake of getting famous and getting money. People go to church and are not converted. Its all game: the more dramatic you are, the more you can fake miracles. Some people even go out to promote Churches. The gospel is Jesus died on the cross and rose again, His blood is enough to keep you oan top, that is the gospel.

Is evangelism not curtailed in a town like Jos?
My program on TV is titled “Hour of Confrontation” and when I begin to talk and talk they will say, close that program. That is the situation. I recently embarked on using SMS to invite people to church. I guess one went to a Muslim and he has not forgiven me that the text got to him. In the last two months, he would call me and began to rain curses, abusing me. I just laugh because he could not do anything to me.