From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Ahead of commencement of pilgrimage exercise for this year, the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) said it won’t tolerate any form of abscondment from pilgrims, stressing that such gaps and opportunities for that have been closed.
It thus warned intending pilgrims who might attempt to abscond to have a rethink, stressing that NCPC has strengthened its systems and adequately trained its personnel to detect and keep close watch of such pilgrims that might attempt to abscond during the pilgrimage exercise.
NCPC spokesman, Celestine Toruka, in a statement, indicated that the Executive Secretary the Commission, Bishop Stephen Adegbite, gave the warning when he hosted the Prelate of Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr. Oliver Aba and his apostolic team of Clergy, at NCPC headquarters in Abuja, on Tuesday.
He assured that the Commission would do everything humanly possible to have a wonderful pilgrimage experience for the people. “However, we have zero tolerance for abscondment. We have told ourselves that anyone found culpable will be sincerely dealt with. Pilgrimage is not a jamboree, but a spiritual exercise.”
Earlier, the Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr. Oliver Aba, said he was highly elated to pay an apostolic visit to the NCPC headquarters.
He congratulated Bishop Adegbite for the appointment as the 4th substantive Executive Secretary of NCPC, urging him to bring his rich wealth of experience to bear in discharging his duties.
He further enjoined him to use his good office to transform the Christian pilgrimage in Nigeria, and ensure that issues of abscondment of pilgrims during pilgrimage exercise is dealt with holistically to avoid tarnishing the image of the country.
He prayed that NCPC should continue to grow, and should be able to give Nigerians credible service as far as Christian pilgrimage is concerned. “As a Methodist man, you are expected to do your work methodically and not let us down. In your time NCPC will wax stronger, and at the end, NCPC will be better than you met it”, he prayed.