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| Pst. Joseph I. Okoro, addressing the press recently in Calabar |
Ukorebi Esien | 26th September 2023
In a media chat held recently in Calabar, the General Overseer of Bible Christian Crusaders Mission, Pastor Joseph I. Okoro narrated how the Church has contributed to the development of the Cross River state while purging it of evil and satanic spirit that held the land backward for many years.
In his address to journalist to kickstart the yearly Festival of Glory program, Okoro said the Festival which have lasted for 27 years was initiated by God to redress the spiritual foundation of Christians believers and bring development to the state. He added that over the years there have been tremendous testimonies including breaking of satanic covenants and curses which affected the level of progress and dimension of growth children of God should make.
“We have taking it upon ourselves as a church to redress some the negative evil infrastructure that has been placed upon this land and this state to restore its lost glory. You know that our fathers worshipped different types of spirits.” He said.
The clergy averred that the festival is behind some major transformations that have happened in the state, stating that the church had planted prophetic pillars in strategic locations across the state which have caused several changes including the renaming of the Naval Base from NNS Anansa to NNS Victory.
Narrating how the church chased out Anansa and other evil spirits out of Calabar, Okoro said, in recent past it was common to see fetish items early in the morning at major junctions in Calabar. Adding that all these forms of idol worship had kept the state and its inhabitants backward, also causing accidents at major spots in town including, Calabar road along Transcorp bend, Zone 6 roundabout, the flour mill junction amongst others.
In his words;
“The festival seeks to redress the evil negative infrastructure placed upon this land and this state. You know that some of our fathers worshipped different spirits and that is why in recent past, you come out in the morning and you will see different sacrifices placed at road junctions. Those things were not for nothing, there were spirit worships. We also took it upon ourselves to deal with those evil negative infrastructure. We took the church out of the church, confronted those alters, we had to go to different parts of this city and some part of the state. What has happened is that over time our actions have released the beauty, the glory and splendor of this state”
We didn’t stop there; we have also dealt with some strongholds that held part of this state in underdevelopment. Much of what you have seen actually that Calabar became the toast of the world is because we took spiritual actions to complement what was done politically and in the physical and God has been faithful.
I will give you and example, the Naval base, used to be called NNS Anansa. We took the church to that place and went in front of the Naval Base and we took action and declared that Anansa can no longer rule over this land. So that the Naval Base called NNS Anansa, we don’t want it to be like that again, we took action in that place, without anybody knowing and we named that place Victory Gate. I think it was about nine months after that the Federal Government without knowing what we had done in that place, renamed the Naval Based from NNS Anansa to NNS Victory.
So much of the things you see in Cross River State is because we have taking responsibility for those things. We know that there are spiritual forces behind some of the backwardness and decadence happing in the state and society. So, we drive the spirit behind those things away. We drove Anansa out of this place. If you encounter anything about Anansa, it is the small small spirit. Anansa herself have been driven out of Calabar. That is why you see that change, as a matter of fact, there use to be a road called Anansa road, but the road was changed to Victory road. Okoro revealed.
For this years edition of the annual program that commenced Monday, 25th September by 4 PM and will run through to October 1, 2023 and will feature men of God from across the country in the likes of Bishop Humphrey Erumaka, Prophet Isa Elbuba, Rev. Felix Udoh amongst others.