Paul Enenche, the senior pastor of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre, has broken silence over the recent incident involving a lady who testified that she was a law graduate from the Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
The pastor clarified that he did not intend to embarrass the testifier, Ayim Vera, when he interrupted her during her testimony on Sunday.
In a video that went viral on Sunday, April 14, the member mounted the pulpit to testify of about her successful graduation with a “Bachelor of Law” degree from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) on Saturday, April 13.
While she was sharing her testimony, she was interrupted by Enenche, who openly declared that “there’s no such degree as a BSc in law”, casting doubt on the authenticity of her testimony.
The issue went viral on social media as Nigerians demanded Enenche to apologise.
In his response, Enenche said his actions were motivated by his and the church’s dislike of seeming dishonesty or mediocrity.
Sylvester Edoh, the Personal Assistant to Pastor Enenche Enenche, also noted that the church had reached out to Vera personally.
A statement signed by Edoh reads: “A scenario was created on Sunday the 14th of 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 and 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 has 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.”