The news filtered that a pentecostal pastor in Ogun state after boasting to his followers went ahead and attempted to desecrate and disempower a community deity and probably burn it down. This has become a common practice in Southern Nigeria where is is believed that those deities connive with other evil forces to retard the progress of whole communites. In this case the Pastor got disoriented became paralysed and dumb. It took the intervention of the chief priest and the traditional ruler to get him released from the power of the shrine in question. Some people have stated that there is nothing like evil spirit and that the fall and paralysis was a mere coincidence. Others are saying that any person that is worth his education should not recognise the power of spirits or evil forces. What they fail to forget is that some Nigerian rain makers were once contracted by queen of England to prevent rainfall during one of her vital ceremonies. Jesus Christ who is a God recognised the power of evil spirits and actively commanded them.When the disciples of Jesus Christ failed to cast out an evil Spirit and Jesus easily removed any evil Spirit, the disciples were shocked. They asked Jesus " How come you are able to cast out all demons and we cannot cast out some?" Jesus replied that certain Spirits can only be cast out after praying and fasting has been done. In order words you have to prepare, humble yourself and remember that you are not the one casting the Spirit but God Himself. Another point is that these ancient deities should be left intact after the evil Spirit is destroyed so that we can preserve some antiquities for local and international tourism. No need to burn down the shrines or to cast out the Spirit by force. The community should make the decision to cast out or not to cast out.
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