After attack on Plateau church, Masqueraders carted away N550,000 – Pastor

Pastor John Dashe in the pastor in charge of the Grace of God Mission Church, Shikal-Talbut, Lantang North Local Government Area of Plateau State. Dashe speaks to JAMES ABRAHAM about the reported incident.

Please introduce yourself.

My name is Pastor John Dashe. I’m the pastor in charge of the Grace of God Mission Church in Shikal-Talbut, Lantang North Local Government Area of Plateau State. I’m also the branch chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the area.

Is it true that your church was invaded by masqueraders who allegedly flogged worshippers and destroyed some church properties?

Yes, that is true.

How did it happen?

This thing started on September 7, 2022. A letter was brought to me by some people who said there would be a traditional dance of masquerades in the community. When I saw the letter, I told them that I would not collect it. I’m a pastor; what business will a pastor have with masqueraders to be getting letters from them?

After I refused to collect the letter, they told me that they had lined up masqueraders’ activities from September 12 to 19. So, I talked to them about September 18, which was a Sunday and they left. Later they dragged me to the police station. At the station, the police talked to me and encouraged me to collect the letter and let peace reign, which I did. The village king told me that nothing was going to happen to me. He said the masqueraders would have concluded their activities even before Sunday when we would hold church service. We left the police station on September 12. At midnight, the masqueraders actually came out and there was no incident. Then on the following day, which was September 13, they came close to my church and were shouting and disturbing our peace  but I did not say anything. When the disturbance became unbearable, I called the church secretary, who is an indigene of the community, and explained what was happening to him. He then decided to come over to see things for himself.

The masqueraders started to stone the church.  The church secretary was there with me. He went out to meet the masqueraders to talk to them, being a fellow indigene of the community. On seeing him, they stopped throwing stones at the church and left. But I sensed some danger, so, I decided to inform the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Langtang North LGA about the development. So, on September 14, CAN sent the Secretary and the Financial Secretary of the association to my place. We then visited the king to discuss and also reported the matter at the police station. The king told us he would discuss with the masqueraders and give me feedback so I could report to CAN.

On the same day, around 5pm, the masqueraders came back to me because my house is very close to the church. And this time, they started throwing stones at me. As I stood there not moving or saying anything to them, the stones were flying in all directions but miraculously, none of the stones hit me.  I knew it was God in action because no stone touched me and then they left.

The following day, the masqueraders came again to my house. A man in the community told me to leave my house because, according to him, the masqueraders had vowed that they would kill me that day. So, I stood up and left the house immediately for another house where I was hiding my family.

When they didn’t see me, they went away but they later returned on that day, saying they would kill me because, according to them, they had instructions from their gods to kill me.

On Friday, September 16, the same thing happened; they continued to search for me. I then informed my leader and he told me to leave my hiding place in the community and move to Langtang, which I did. I also hid my family in another location within the community before I escaped to Langtang on Friday night. On Saturday, my leader told me to relax in Langtang and that I shouldn’t return to my station for the time being. So, I didn’t return to my station. But I told my leader that I would return to my station very early on Sunday morning to enable me to conduct service but he insisted that I should stay back and allow the people to conduct the service by themselves. So, I was in Langtang when the attack on the church happened.

How did you learn that the church was attacked?

Around 8am on that Sunday, my wife, who was still in the Shikal-Talbut community ‘flashed’ my phone. So, I called her only to be informed that those masqueraders had invaded Assemblies of God Church close to our own church .The masqueraders beat the worshippers and the pastor; they scattered the church. I was disturbed by the information which made me to call the mother CAN in Langtang. After narrating the incident, the Secretary and Financial Secretary of CAN came and together, we travelled back to my station and reported the case to the police. This time, the DPO came with us. By the time we arrived at my station, the masqueraders had already entered my church too and disrupted the service, while also destroying some church properties.

From what I was told, the worshippers were barely rounding off Sunday School session when the masqueraders entered the church and started chasing everyone, causing commotion.

How did the congregants react to the invasion by the masqueraders?

You can imagine that there would be panic and commotion among the congregants, who were just worshiping God before the masqueraders suddenly barged into the church from nowhere. The people ran out of the church and the masquerades began to pursue the women. I had already told the church leaders not to allow anyone to fight because I was coming with policemen, so our people didn’t fight with them. But the church members later stood their ground and resisted the masqueraders. The chaos caused by the masqueraders was still there when we arrived at the community and I had to intervene and restore calm among the church members who were already agitated over the situation.

Was anybody injured?

Nobody was injured, but one of the pastors was beaten. Fortunately, he sustained no injury. The masqueraders destroyed all the musical instruments of our church – the drum set, piano, loudspeakers – were destroyed. They also destroyed the box in which church money was kept. We had N550,000 in that box, which we had saved up to buy some equipment. But they took the money away after destroying the box.  The guitar, amplifier and the stabiliser were also carted away by the masqueraders.

What’s the worth of the properties destroyed?

I currently don’t have the complete list (of the properties destroyed) because I am still in Langtang, as we speak. I will get the list when I return to my station in Chikal-Talbut.

Was the Sunday incident the first time the masqueraders and the church would have a clash?

I have been pastoring the church in the community for the past four years or thereabouts but we had never witnessed anything like that before.

What was the content of the letter the masqueraders gave you?

They wanted us to stay away from our worship in the churche from September 12 to September 19; they said they wanted everywhere to be silent for the masqueraders to worship their own gods. They also wanted me to distribute the letter to other churches in the locality as the branch chairman of CAN in the area.  They are allowed to worship their gods, so why should they stop us from worshipping ours? Nevertheless, we actually didn’t have any church service throughout the week until Sunday when we converged for Sunday service; yet they invaded the church.

Was the matter formally reported to the police?

Yes, we reported the matter to the police in the locality.

How are the police handling the matter?

After the invasion of the church on Sunday and then on Monday, the king was asked to bring the leader of the masqueraders and his group who attacked the church. The police inspector in Talbut was asked to bring the perpetrators but he didn’t bring them, so we were given policemen who went with us the following day to arrest them. We arrested four people on the first day and about five other people on the following day and another four the next day, totalling 13 persons, who were among those who stoned the church, because we saw them; they were human beings, not masqueraders. They are currently in the police custody.

The king of the community was also held by the police; but he was later released, so he could back to the village to bring his people back,  because they fled the village when they saw the police arriving in the village.

Are you satisfied with the way the police are handling the matter?

Yes, I am satisfied; the police are trying their best. This morning, having realised the implication of their actions, the king gathered all the village elders, they begged me, saying they would ensure that all the damaged properties were returned. But I told them the case was already with CAN and the mother CAN said the issue had been reported to the national body of the association. But I told CAN the latest development concerning the matter and they promised to give me feedback on what to do next.

What are your demands concerning this matter?

I don’t want this kind of thing to happen again. I also want all the properties of the church, either damaged or carted away, including the money, to be returned to us in good condition. But like I told you earlier, the matter has gone beyond me and since the matter is already with CAN, whatever decision they take on the matter is the final.

(Culled from Punch)