Human
rights campaigners and the National Secular Society are urging the
United Kingdom government to turn down a request by Bishop David
Oyedepo’s church, Winners’ Chapel International, accused of linking poor
discipline to witchcraft, to open an independent school in Kent.
According
to the BBC, Winners’ Chapel International, which is currently under
investigation by the Charity Commission, wants to open the school at its
Dartford site.
“The church, whose leader Bishop David Oyedpo was filmed accusing a woman of being a witch, declined an interview,” reports BBC.
The
organisation, which has its headquarters in Nigeria, is known as Living
Faith Church Worldwide and also Winners’ Chapel International (WCI).
Bishop Oyedepo, its leader in Nigeria, has been shown on YouTube slapping a woman and accusing her of being a witch.
His
son David Oyedepo Junior is the pastor at WCI’s European headquarters
in Dartford, where the church organisation wants to open Kingdom
Heritage Model School for children aged four to seven.
But groups
including the National Secular Society (NSS) have raised concerns amid
claims the church links child “disobedience” to witchcraft – citing the
David Oyedepo Ministries website, which states “disobedience is as
terrible as witchcraft”.
Stephen Evans, from the NSS, told BBC
that the Metropolitan Police had investigated 27 cases of child abuse
related to witchcraft this year.
He said:
“There’s a need
to be vigilant and there’s a need to tackle this. “You don’t do this by
allowing organisations that believe in witchcraft and are associated
with witch-hunting to open in the UK.”The Charity
Commission confirmed concerns raised about Winners’ Chapel International
included conflicts of interest and the charity’s financial management.
In 2011, Bishop Oyedepo’s fortune was estimated at $150m (£94m).
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