Chris Segun Onayinka, and abuse at The Saints Community

No-one really knows how I agonise each time I have to write an article of this sort. I play around with the prospects in my head, dilly-dally, tremble with fear, hesitate, and generally just die a thousand deaths wishing it didn’t have to be done.

But what’s got to be done has got to be done.

Regulars of this blog for over 6 months now will be familiar with the comments (if not the person) of an individual on this blog – Chris Segun Onayinka by name. Till he showed up here, I had never been acquainted with him. I recall that the first discussions we engaged in here were stormy. He came in brandying some unScriptural notions, and I gave no room for it. Then he disappeared for a while, and when he returned, his comments suggested a person who had undergone change. Giving the benefit of doubt, I gave a right hand of fellowship, and he has been a regular here since – even apparently supporting me in the crusade for truth and righteousness.

I found out that he pastored a congregation here in Lagos, Chris Onayinka Ministries/The Saints Community, and ran outreaches on campuses and in schools. It looked good.

We exchanged mails, spoke on phone, and he even attended at least two (2) meetings that I spoke at.

I mentioned a few months back that an individual put down some amount of money for the propagation of the Gospel through a medium. Segun was that individual, and my decision was that the money would be used to produce a book for free distribution. I had not asked him for anything or mentioned any desire to do any such thing to him. The gift was 100% his initiative. He sent in a check for N100,000.00 which was duly presented and cleared.

Last week, we met (along with another friend of mine) for Bible study at my home. Honestly, it was an interesting time. We did not agree on every point, but at least we had what qualified to be called honest Bible study.

The Sunday before the Bible study, however, four new faces (all ladies) showed up at our church service. I had no idea who they were or where they were from, but they actively participated in the service, and asked questions extensively during our open question-and-answer session. The questions generally bordered on issues that had to do with pastoral authority and control, and we presented answers from the Bible.

Before the week was over, these ladies had booked an appointment to speak with me. Typical of our practice at Crown, I involved other pastors. On Saturday morning (three days ago), myself and two others listened with shock, pain and sorrow to tales of control, manipulation, psychological and even physical abuse – all in the hands of a man who was supposed to be their pastor (actually ex-pastor, as they had decided not to go back there), Segun Onayinka.

I was in shock all through Saturday. While driving, I made several blunders, almost running into people and other cars. At one point, I glanced down at my speedometre, and was shocked to find that I was doing 110km/hr already. I just couldn’t think straight.

The following day, Sunday the 8th of September 2008, we held a general meeting in which the four ladies and several members of Crown were present. Also present was Segun and about 6 or 7 people in his entourage. I need to say that Segun willingly came to this meeting; he did not come under coercion. The meeting started a little after 4p.m.

At that meeting, the allegations were tabled. In attendance to corroborate what the first four ladies had to say was another young lady member of his church. In addition, we placed a call to another lady who had been a member of his church, who had been abused just like the others. The call was conducted on speakerphone for all present to hear, and what she had to say was just as shocking and heart-rending.

I was informed that this particular lady could not come to the meeting because a legal notice had been served on Segun that he was not to come near her after a botched kidnap attempt on this lady and her sister by people acting on his instructions. Bewildering? Yes.

The Bible says:

Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. (1 Timothy 5:19)

The condition for entertaining an accusation against a church leader is that there be 2 or 3 witnesses. Here, we had 6 (six) witnesses. There was also another lady who would have been present but for fear. I must interject here that this sister had earlier on requested for a private meeting with me through one of my members, and had pleaded that the private meeting not be made known to her pastor (Segun) at all. Apparently, she was living in mortal fear of this one man just as the others had.

At the time she made the request, I had felt uncomfortable with it, and on further discussion with my wife and associates, I decided NOT to honour the request. I wanted to be ethical in my dealings with members of a church I thought was pastored by a God-fearing man. Suffice to say, she was not at the meeting.

So, all we had at the meeting were 6 witnesses. But in my opinion (and as can be seen from Scripture), 6 witnesses are good enough.

When it was all done, Segun Onayinka sat cross-legged and offered a lame apology of “If I have offended you in any way, I am sorry. I will think about it and make amends where I have done wrong”. If? He added, “I cannot say more than sorry”.

It is my decision that until and unless this man shows fruits of repentance, I cannot honestly, sincerely and with the fear of God allow there to be any indication that I endorse his cultic attitude to pastoring and his unBiblical teachings. I said this before everyone present at the meeting. I do not fellowship with abusers and control freaks.

It is my firm conviction based on the Bible that Chris Onayinka Ministries/The Saints Community is cultic and unBiblical in how members are led. We are looking at not less than 5 years of consistent manipulation, control and physical abuse of members.

I will pause here to list a few characteristics associated with cultic groups. I have emboldened items that are clear from the testimonies of the six ladies as being practiced and encouraged by Segun and at Chris Onayinka Ministries/The Saints Community.

Concerted efforts at influence and control lie at the core of cultic groups, programs, and relationships. Many members, former members, and supporters of cults are not fully aware of the extent to which members may have been manipulated, exploited, even abused. The following list of social-structural, social-psychological, and interpersonal behavioral patterns commonly found in cultic environments may be helpful in assessing a particular group or relationship.

Compare these patterns to the situation you were in (or in which you, a family member, or friend is currently involved). This list may help you determine if there is cause for concern. Bear in mind that this list is not meant to be a “cult scale” or a definitive checklist to determine if a specific group is a cult. This is not so much a diagnostic instrument as it is an analytical tool.

1. The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.

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2. Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.

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3. Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).

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4. The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).

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5. The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).

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6. The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.

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7. The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).

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8. The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members’ participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).

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9. The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt iin order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.

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10. Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.

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11. Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.

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12. Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.

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13. The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.

Culled from the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA)

The testimonies of those ladies established that Segun has been in the habit of having dissenting members beaten up physically. One of the ladies present testified to having been “beaten to pulp” by this man and a few of his associates (some of whom were present at the meeting). The lady who testified on phone told of how she was slapped a number of times and threatened to be thrown out of a moving vehicle.

Another young man had to go into hiding to keep from being subjected to a beating.

Last night, I had to call the young lady who had earlier on requested for an audience with me (her name had to be mentioned during the meeting). The other ladies expressed the fear that she would get beaten again for this.

I spoke with her, briefed her of what went on at the meeting, and I assured her that should anyone lay a finger on her again she was to give me a call and I would get both a lawyer and the Police involved. This has gone on enough!

Members and Ex-members of The Saints Community

Here is a public call to victims of this abuse: if you have been subject to this abuse or are still in there, I urge you to leave now. If you need help, call, but in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, please leave! What does it take to leave a place of abuse and pain? Just stop going back there.

Do not be afraid of threats. You may have been beaten or subjected to this abuse again and again, such that you are not even sure whether you are thinking straight. But you have nothing to fear anymore. Leave.

Don’t also be fooled by sweet words from Mr. Onayinka. He is as sly as a snake and a manipulator and liar.

If you are a lady and prefer to speak to someone of the same sex instead, I will hand you over to a lady like yourself and who will handle all information you supply in confidence.

Donation Returned

In the presence of witnesses last Saturday, I sent a text message to Segun Onayinka in which I requested him to provide me with his bank details so that I can refund the full gift of the sum of N100,000 he sent for the propagation of the Gospel earlier on. I cannot honestly take this gift. I hereby publicly disassociate myself from him – with the clause that it is only when I see fruits of repentance that I can even consider him a brother (and not necesarrilly fit to pastor).

Update: The gift of N100,000 has since been refunded by cheque deposit into Chris Segun Onayinka’s bank account.

I strongly urge anyone looking for a place to fellowship to stay away from Chris Onayinka Ministries/The Saints Community at all costs. It is not a place fit for fellowship.

These abuses are the results of bad character and wrong doctrine, and Segun has plenty of those. Unfortunately, one article cannot suffice to address his unBiblical teachings.

Other UnBiblical Teachings and Practices

Segun Onayinka and The Saints Community are deeply entrenched in the errors of the Word of Faith Movement, which we keep taking pains to expose here on this site and elsewhere.

What makes his case worse is that when it is convenient, he criticises the men at the front of that movement but continues to follow them, teach the same things and carry out the same abuses that those men do.

According to ex-members of The Saints Community, some of the punishments meted out to erring members is being told to stand outside in the rain and pray in tongues for hours. Yes; madness.

He is reported as being obsessed with the subject of tongues. According to Segun, the believer’s life revolves around tongues and he is nothing without tongues.

Segun has repeatedly told his members that even in heaven he would still be teaching them. He claims that no amount of Bible study on their part will bring them an understanding of the Gospel the way he understands it. In effect, he is the sole authority on all things spiritual at The Saints Community. The Saints Community is currently built around him and his person and personality.

This article is insufficient to detail all the wrong teachings and practices being pushed down people’s throats at The Saints Community.

Christianity in Crisis

In case anyone reading this thinks it is an isolated case, you need to think again. Much of what we call “christianity” in many of our churches in the country today is nothing more than one man manipulating, controlling and abusing people. Rev. King’s case was not an isolation; it was just a very extreme and blatant one. This case is not an isolated instance of abuse in churches.

A friend of mine who has been a key part of this resolution process tells of how he saw this same kind of abuse and bondage at the last church he attended. That church is a fast-growing assembly affiliated with many of the big names I have consistently exposed on this blog.

Another Shameless Man: “Alagba Rotimi”

One other individual deserves a dishonourable mention here. Towards the end of the proceedings at yesterday’s meeting, one miserable individual called “Alagba Rotimi” who had been brought in as a witness by Segun commented that “As a pastor too, I have had to discipline members“, and that “as pastors, we need to operate by ministerial ethics in dealing with issues like these“. The buffoon was addressing me when he said these.

Ministerial ethics? May ministerial ethics rot in hell along with him (if he won’t repent). What was unethical (even unBiblical) about me hearing out 4 victims of abuse who had run to me for help? What was unethical (even unBiblical) about such a meeting of the Church as conducted yesterday?

If this man had any shame, he would be questioning his friend who had brought him in instead. If this fellow had grown-up daughters, and his own daughters were to have been severed from family and friends, been mentally manipulated, been turned into slaves, been physically abused, and had money extorted from them in private, as had been done to these ladies and others, would he consider it unethical that someone did what I have done? Shameful, really.

I am hoping that someone can help me with his full names and what ministry or church he is involved with.

Update 10th September 2008: I have been informed that his name is Rotimi Bankole of Loveflows International Church.

Does this miserable fellow imply that he has been doing the same thing? Just yesterday morning, the mother of one of these ladies called me to appreciate what we did in standing up to this abuse and helping her daughter out.

If this is what ministerial ethics is all about, I do not want to hold on to such ungodly ethics! If this is what pastoring is all about, I do not want to be a pastor! And I say that with shame.

This is NOT an isolated case. It is rife within church circles, and it goes on because certain men are seen as “God’s anointed“, when in truth God does not even know them. Men who are flesh and blood like everyone else have so indoctrinated their followers into mindless followership.

We are not dedicated to helping Chris Onayinka Ministries/The Saints Community victims alone, but victims from ANY church. Call, and get out of there right away. Jesus Christ did not die on the cross for the purpose of enslaving you to any man.

Closing

Am I a better man than Chris Segun Onayinka? No; I am not. Minus the grace of God, I could do what he did, and even worse. This post was not done to gloat, to run him down or to present myself as a righteous man. God forbid. I repeat, minus the grace of God, I could best him. Anyman can. The Bible is clear that we all have the capacity for evil.

This is why believers need to keep their thinking caps on and stop blind followership of men. Christ alone ought to be our focus and allegiance. Where a man deviates from following Christ, the people around him ought to know the Bible enough to tell that he has indeed deviated. And they ought to know that they are under no obligation to follow a man who is not following Christ.

In summary, why I wrote this piece:

1. help others still trapped in Chris Onayinka Ministries/The Saints Community, but who have been fearful of speaking out or coming out

2. make it clear publicly that we do not endorse such behaviour

3. help others in such bondage as has been detailed above

Updates
November 2009
We have continued to receive reports from otheer individuals who have been at the receiving end of Segun’s abuse and manipulations. It is almost a never-ending story of extortion, abuse and manipulations.

It is also noteworthy that he recently moved his church, The Saints Community, to the same location where Crown Bible Church meets, so we have become neighbours.

In the spirit of Christianity, where and when he says Hello, I greet him in return and keep walking. I have been deliberate in not interacting with him. Besides those odd greetings, I have not had one single discussion – in person, by SMS, voice call, email or any other medium with this young man since I returned his N100,000 gift.

I am taking pains to state this because I am convinced that Segun is a sociopath – he lies incessantly to get his way and does so with little concern for others. This is a man who has gone round bragging about being involved in a conference call with myself and a handful of others. He claimed that I made certain statements during that conference call.

For the records, I have never made any conference call at all in my life, and I certainly wasn’t involved in any with Segun Onayinka. Our interactions have never exceeded what is stated in this article.

If and when I am convinced of Segun Chris Onayinka’s repentance, I will issue a public statement on this website – just like this one. Until then, this is my position.

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