Illegal Churches: The Timely Closure!

One of the national happenings that must have raised eyebrows in the recent weeks is certainly the decision to start closing down illegal churches that are mushrooming in the country. Government seems to be turning a new leaf from the hitherto long-drawn talk on the surge in the church business to really sealing their premises with the pious hope of ending it. 
The operation began in the Centre Region where the doors of some 188 illegal churches were sealed by the local administrative authority in Yaounde IV Subdivision alone. Reports say a census carried out in the Subdivision since 2024 revealed that over 615 churches were operating therein, with a good number of them illegally. The closure, according to the Subdivisional Officer for Yaounde IV, Elvis Akondi, is therefore in line with instructions from his hierarchy who asked administrative authorities across the country to clean their areas of command of all illegality in the growing church business. Better late than never, at least! 
A cursory look at the figures of churches and those in illegality in Yaounde IV alone suggests how the church business has inundated the country. While promoters of the illegal churches and some of their gullible followers would obviously be gnashing their teeth, neighbours to some of the church premises as well as friends and family members of the worshippers are no doubt rejoicing, hoping the cleaning process is sustained. And there is every reason to do so.
No one anywhere in the country is oblivious to the nuisance and atrocities caused by most of these so-called churches. The sound pollution they inflict on their neighbours, day and night, separation caused families - where resistant husbands or wives of their followers are tagged as demons, and what most of them reportedly do to their usually easy-to-fool female followers, are scary. While some of their naive fans empty almost all they have in the private coffers of their self-proclaimed apostles, bishops, general overseers or whatever big title the promoters carry, some women end of falling for the sexual advances of the criminals in God’s name. 
In fact, instead of making disciples for God as the Holy Book teaches, the church promoters bring people to themselves who only swear by them and respect every instruction from them, no matter how bad and ugly it may be. To say the least, most of the illegal churches vainly use the name of God to do things that are in sharp contrast to what the God of peace, love and all compassion teaches. In fact, there is nowhere in the Bible where God preaches division. How comes those who do not belong to particular churches or believe their doctrines are qualified as demons who should no longer have anything to do with the “believers” is hair-scratching.
Prosperity messages and other charming words are the modus operandi of the church promoters. They fake all manner of miracles and promise heaven on earth to their followers. Supporters are assured milk and honey in a competitive society where common Bible knowledge teaches that you must toil to eat from your sweat. People who have never been to any school or received training in any field are prophesied top jobs in technical sectors and some who do not even have passports or have an idea of which country they can visit for what purpose are told to claim their visas. Amen! Yes man of God! I claim it! and halleluiah! are usually the responses that galvanise the sellers of illusion to fool the people. 
Since it is a business tactic to pull money out of the pockets of the misled followers, most of the self-proclaimed prophets who speak what the itchy ears of their fans want to hear, usually end their utterances with words like, “Sow a seed in the man of God’s life and see how God will bless you. The heavier the seed, the bounty the harvest.” Some of them even go as far as asking for the payslips of some working-class admirers who are often forced to giving more than the Biblical tithing prescribes. This is often with the pretext that the more you give, the more you receive. As if God could be bribed! This is pure business in the name of God. 
Also, some of the so-called churches have brainwashed their clients to believing that hospitals and or medications are not needed when one falls sick. The story in Bamenda where one of the self-styled prophet tiptoed into a hospital ward and removed oxygen pipes from an ailing patient who quenched instantly is testament to the mounting church-provoked ills in society. Regrettably, this is what ...