RCCG Bars Immunisers

Inspite of government’s appeal to the public including religious leaders, traditional rulers, heads and owners of schools as well as caregivers and parents to present their under five children to be immunised, immunisers are still faced with resistance.

Surprisingly, Christians who have been enjoined by the Holy Scriptures to obey constituted authority, now stand in defiance of the same authority they have been enjoined to obey, as the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has done.

Immunisers, who were going from church to church last Sunday the second day of the March round of the National Immunisation Plus Days (NIPDs), were barred from immunising under five children at the City of Joy Parish, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Abuloma Road, Amadi-Ama.

The wife of the Pastor in-charge, Esther Ambie-Barango, refused absolutely for the immunisers to gain access to the children in the congregation on the pretext that the pastor in charge was not aware of their coming to the church.

Mrs. Ambie-Barango also prevented mothers, who came out with their babies to be immunised from being immunised.

The supervisor in charge of the area, ward 20, Omisiki Minainyo, who was called to the scene to corroborate the story that the church was not informed, said, she had earlier given a letter to the church secretary who said the pastor in charge was out of town.

Minainyo added that the secretary promised to send the pastor an e-mail and later got back to her by telephone, saying the pastor was not interested in the immunisation in his church.

In spite of having medical doctors, including a well known consultant paediatrician at the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, Port Harcourt, the wife of the pastor could not be convinced to allow the immunisers discharge their duties.

Meanwhile, the Pastor in charge of the Province, Deinma Dikibo, said that the Pastor acted on his own, adding that Pastor Barango did not have the mandate of RCCG to prevent his members from being immunised.

The Executive Secretary, Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board (RSPHCMB), Claribel Abam, gave this information while reacting to the matter.

Dr Abam said she had a telephone discussion with Dr Deinma Dikobo, the Provincial Pastor who gave her the information that the Pastor of City of Joy Parish acted on his own.

“Our first line of action is to intensify enlightenment, when we’re done with  that, then we will now go beyond that, we have the force of law behind us, we will now have to enforce the law”, she added.

Tonye Nria-Dappa