Nigerian Pastor asks members to raise $1m for Ebola Control in Liberia

 

Moved by the helplessness of Liberians stricken by the Ebola virus, Senior Pastor of the Day Star Christian Church of Nigeria, Sam Adeyemi, has launched a passionate appeal to its members and well-wishers to pool more than $1 million (one million dollars) towards ameliorating the epidemic in Liberia.

The pastor, who made this known during the Sunday service of the church at Oregun, Ikeja, has made a personal pledge of not less than N1m (one million naira) to the fund, which he hopes would be delivered through a credible organisation like the United Nations or any other body that will ensure effective usage.

The hugely populated Lagos-based church, recall, showed similar gesture to victims of the deadly Hurricanes that flushed homes across the United States and parts of Asia some years ago.

Like it was when the Hurricane Katrina happened, Adeyemi said, “Some days ago, I saw a video of how an Ebola stricken Liberian man was lying helplessly on the street of Monrovia with no one to attend to him because there was no place for sick Ebola infected people in the designated clinics, and how they hurriedly came to pick him for burial believing he was dead, only for him to move his hand at the facility where he was prepared for the cemetery, really broke my heart.”

“I want us to give a few dollars as individuals, with eyes on not less than US$1million to help Liberia. We did it during the Hurricane Katrina, as we sent our token through the United Nations Foundation. Let us show compassion to Liberia at this critical time,” Adeyemi said.

He has also called for Nigeria to offer expert support to the country.

“The Government of Nigeria may have heeded this call before it was made, as the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, has hinted that Nigeria would be fully involved in any intervention by the United Nations to curb the outbreak in all affected countries.”