Pastor Enenche said, “It must be pointed out clearly here that embarrassing the testifier publicly with the attendant media frenzy was never intended; whatever happened was under the spur of the moment.”
By Kehinde Okeowo
Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Abuja, Dr Paul Enenche, has apologised to a church member after wrongly accusing her of providing a ‘fake testimony’
His apology was contained in a statement issued and made available to journalists by his Personal Assistant and Secretary, Sylvester Edoh.
TheNiche had earlier reported that a Dunamis church member, Ms Anyim Veronica Nnenna, took to the pulpit to share her achievement of graduating with a “Bachelor of Law” degree from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) on Saturday, April 13.
In her testimony, she proclaimed herself as the first graduate in her family and detailed her journey to obtaining the degree, which she claimed was a BSc in law.
However, her testimony was abruptly interrupted by Pastor Enenche, who openly declared her testimony as false, asserting that there is no such degree as a BSc in law and questioning her credibility as a law graduate based on her speech.
Despite the pastor’s assertions, investigations later revealed that NOUN indeed offers a “Bachelor of Law” program to her and this led to a backlash on social media with many Nigerians demanding an apology from the senior pastor.
ALSO READ: Nigerians lampoon pastor Enenche for tagging woman’s testimony fake during church service
Reacting to the outburst, Pastor Enenche via a statement apologised to Ms Nnenna for embarrassing her, saying his action was not meant to disparage her.
The statement read: “A scenario was created on Sunday the 14th April, 2024 at the Glory Dome, the Global Headquarters of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, when Ms Anyim Veronica Nnenna came out to testify of how God helped her graduate from the University, thus making her the first person to attain that feat in her family.
“These were the immediate triggers for the said scenario: First, listening to the testifier’s expressions as it borders on basic spoken English. conveys the impression that the minimum standard expectation of a graduate, especially a graduate of Law was not met.
“Second, stating that she studied Law for 10 years begged the question of what her degree actually was.
“Third, she was unable to state exactly what the correct degree was for Law which is LLB, rather she said it was a BSc in Law which is largely unknown as a Law degree in Nigeria and possibly globally.
“These prompted the Senior Pastor, Dr. Paul Enenche to stop the testimony immediately as a product of a “lie.”
However, relief came when it was later confirmed that she actually graduated from a university.
“It must be pointed out clearly here that embarrassing the testifier publicly with the attendant media frenzy was never intended; whatever happened was under the spur of the moment.
“The action of the Senior Pastor was rather based on his and the church’s aversion to seeming mediocrity and any appearance of untruth.
“While we remain resolute in our passion for excellence, intolerance of mediocrity and falsehood, we wish to reiterate the fact that no harm or hurt was ever intended by the Senior Pastor against Ms. Anyim Veronica. The Senior Pastor feels deeply concerned and had already reached out to her.
“As a Commission, we regret every inconvenience, hurt and embarrassment this unfortunate scenario has caused to Ms Anyim Veronica Nnenna. We remain committed to her physical welfare as well as her spiritual growth.”
