Gaza war: NPC assures of safety of pilgrims in Israel
The Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NPC) has assured of safety of pilgrims in Israel, despite the ongoing war in Gaza.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission, Bishop Stephen Adegbite, gave the assurance in Abuja on Wednesday when he addressed newsmen.
Adegbite who called for an end to the ongoing carnage in Gaza, stated that the Commission did not support the killing of persons, even as children of God.
He assured Nigerian intending pilgrims that they would be safe during the Easter Pilgrimage to Israel.
He said that there had never been any time that any pilgrim had been attacked during the Pilgrimage.
“When you hear war going on in Gaza, we do not go to Gaza. There has never been any time that we went to Gaza, and I have gone on pilgrimage 24 times now. So, by the special grace of God, Nigerians will be safe in Israel, and nothing will happen to anybody.
“Since 1999 that I started going to Israel, there is no year that there is no war. And when you read the scriptures properly in Revelations until Christ comes, there would continue to be war in Israel. Because Israel is surrounded by 14 nations who do not want them, and that war continues every time,” Adegbite said.
“But God has his name to be glorified in Israel, and He is protecting them. But that is not to say that what is going on in Gaza is something we will support even as children of God, no. The carnage going on in Gaza should stop, enough of that.
“A lot of people have died, children are perishing, and innocent people are dying, but the people who are perpetuating the evil have not been properly identified. Those are the people they should go after so that there will be peace, at least for some time. But for us as children of God, Nigerians will be safe in Israel,” he said.
Adegbite stressed that the Easter pilgrimage would commence in June, while pilgrimage exercises will now take place only two times in a year, with the first being the Easter pilgrimage, and the second holding between December and February.
“We are starting with the Easter pilgrimage that is open now, and we are going to close it up by July, then we have the main pilgrimage that will start from November, and that will also end by February.
“So, pilgrimage in Nigeria for the Christian community is no longer every month where ten people will go or 20 people will go. We are going to do it twice, and that is what we were known for in the past. So, we are going back to that,” Adegbite said.
He also stated that the review of the duration of the pilgrimage to ten days was to return the exercise to the way it was and to ensure that pilgrims had more time in the holy land.
He added that the Commission would announce the final cost for the trip in the coming week and that the figures would reflect official exchange rates.
