Following the ban placed on the broadcast of religious miracle programmes on television in the country, the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Dr. Silas Babajiya Yisa, has raised an alarm that some pastors are planning to kill him.
In an exclusive chat with P.M.News in Abuja, Dr. Yisa revealed that since the commission banned the broadcast of miracle programmes on television, he had received several death threats from pastors across the country.
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He cited the case of a Kaduna-based pastor (names withheld) who threatened to send demons to attack him.
"The pastor said I should withdraw the directive on miracles on television. He said if I failed to do so within seven days, he will send demons to me," said Dr. Yisa.
Apart from receiving death threats, Dr. Yisa said the commission had received 20 court summons across the country since it issued the directive banning miracle programmes on television.
He added that the commission had investigated the sources of the court cases and discovered that all of them emanated from pastors of the Christ Embassy.
He disclosed further that some church leaders who were affected by the ban on fake miracle programmes on television had, on many occasions, "organised all night prayers with a view to attacking me spiritually." Justifying the ban placed on religious miracle programmes on television, Dr. Yisa said the directive was in accordance with the law, stressing that it was meant to bring credibility to the church.
His words: "They were surprised to see that I am a Christian. What we are saying is that before you bring us miracles on television, it is only proper for you to verify it. When Jesus cured the leper at the gate, he asked him to go and show himself to the people who knew him when he was a leper. This is what we want from them." On the steps being taken by the commission on the cases in court, Dr.Yisa said the commission had directed its lawyers to harmonise the cases for proper coordination.
It would be recalled that the NBC in April, 2004 raised an alarm on the proliferation of fake religious miracles on the nation's airwaves and placed a total ban on it.
The ban came into effect in May. Since the ban, some members of the religious organisations mostly affected by the ban have gone to court to challenge the legality of the directive. They argued that the directive infringed their fundamental right to receive and impart information as guaranteed by the constitution.
Before the ban, two notable Christian clerics, pastors Chris Oyakhilome of the Christ Embassy and Temitope Joshua of the Synagogue Church of all Nations, were running series of miracle programmes on many television channels across the country.