1966 coup: Group asks Pastor Bakare to apologise to Ndigbos

The Christian Association of Igbo Ministers (CAIM) has insisted that the Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church formerly known as Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare tendered his unreserved apology to the Igbos over his statement on the 1966 coup.

Pastor Bakare who recently declared his intention to vie for the post of President in 2023, was quoted to have said that the Igbos were cursed by the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister.

In a sermon in his Church, Pastor Bakare narrated how the 1966 coupists removed Balewa’s religious turban, forced him, a teetotaler and a Muslim, to drink wine, poured some on his head and shot him. Consequently, the dying Balewa cursed the Igbos asserting that they would never rule Nigeria forever.

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However, in a statement by the International President and Secretary of CAIM, Apostle (Dr.) Solomon Chukwuemeka Okorie and Rev. Dr. Francis Ujunwa Simeon, International Secretary, CAIM respectively, the group described Pastor Bakare’s version of the 1966 military coup as being weird, spurious, sinister and mischievous.

“It is a rehash of timeworn, stereotyped conspiracy theory of the 1966 Igbo coup, ostensibly carried out to entrench Igbo hegemonic domination of the Nigerian polity. By adding false, gory details of Balewa’s death (previously unheard of), dressed in religious garb, Pastor Bakare is set on mischief against the Igbo nation.

“None of the eyewitness accounts, nor the memoirs of the military officers involved in the coup and counter coup of 1966, ever mentioned that Balewa cursed the Igbos. Why should Pastor Bakare who was obviously a minor at that time, fabricate this odious red herring at this stage of Nigerian history? Even if he heard it from the grapevine, did he verify it from eyewitnesses before amplifying it in the public domain? If sued in a competent court of law, can Pastor Bakare summon an eyewitness or present an audio-visual record to corroborate his weird tale? Why should a man of Bakare’s standing, a pastor and a lawyer, publish such an imaginary and inciting story in the public domain? These are questions Pastor Bakare must answer.

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“What could be Pastor Bakare’s motive for trumpeting this false narrative at a time when the Igbos are clamouring for the Nigerian presidency on grounds of equity and justice? Why is he trying to drive a wedge into the rapprochement between the Igbos and North at this critical time on the eve of 2023?

“Pastor Bakare spoke out of the figment of his own warped imagination for political motives. He wants to sow seeds of discord between Ndigbo and their Northern brothers for his selfish political interests,” the statement added.