Plans to eliminate the President of the Christian Association of Nigerian (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, by sabotaging the integrity of his Bombardier Challenger 600 aircraft have been uncovered.
According to the African Free Press, the Christian leader narrowly escaped death by the whiskers because his aircraft would have crashed if not for the grace of God and the professionalism of the pilot.
This disclosure emanated from a reliable source close to the CAN President who said Oritsejafor who also is the Senior Pastor of Word of Life Bible Church, was on board his private aircraft when the pilot detected an unusual sound from the engine compartment forcing him to make an emergency landing and subjecting the aircraft to checks.
Upon checking for the source and cause of the sound, the engineers spotted two huge bricks placed inside the engine compartment by yet unidentified persons.
Judging from the unfortunate incident as it were, the plan was for Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s aircraft to crash with him on board. The high-flying pastor was said to have been distressed over this development.
The said aircraft has designated parking spaces at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and Osubi Airstrip also known as Warri Airport all of which are under the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) which collects heavy fees as packing and security charges.
Efforts to reach Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor on this incident have not yielded fruit. However, a source inside FAAN who wishes to remain anonymous because he is not authorised to speak to the press confirmed to our reporters that the lawyers of Pastor Oritsejafor have written to FAAN on the frightful and outrageous incident, demanding an explanation on how and why two bricks were lodged in the engine compartment of the aircraft while it was under their care. The said letter has raised tension in FAAN as no one has claimed responsibility.
In the twists and turns of events, the pastor’s name was dragged into Nigerian politics by his detractors for being close to former, President Goodluck Jonathan and for being vociferous in his criticism of the Islamists group, Boko Haram.
The climax of the attack against him came to the fore when the aircraft which was donated to him by his congregation and some of his sons and daughters was leased out and it got entangled in a botched arms deal in South Africa.
According to government sources, the aircraft which was also on commercial lease was hired by the office of the NSA to cater for the security needs of the nation.
The opposition then leaned on the botched transaction to denigrate the CAN president ahead of the 2015 general election.
Both CAN and the CAN president have repeatedly called for a comprehensive probe of the botched deal. It is obvious that those who were eager to frame Pastor Ayo have not rested since then.
