Controversial Pastor Chris Oyakhilome attends ceremony to mark US move of Israeli embassy

CONTROVERSIAL clergyman Pastor Chris Oyakhilome has heightened the tension over the decision by the US government to relocate its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem after attending a special event to mark the occasion organised by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Monday, in a controversial move, the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv following a decision by President Donald Trump to defy Arab opinion and risk regional instability. Over the last few days, the development has sparked unrest across the region and put the matter on the international agenda, as it attracts widespread condemnation.

 Nigeria came under scrutiny in the matter after it was revealed that her ambassador to Israel attended the opening ceremony but the presidency has refuted these reports.  One presidency source, said the federal government had written to Al Jazeera, demanding a retraction of its story that listed Nigeria as one of the countries represented at the event after the ambassador denied being there.

However, pastor Oyakhilome who caught international notoriety last year after a very messy and public divorce with his wife, attended a special ceremony recently organised by Prime Minister Netanyahu. Currently in Israel on pilgrimage, Pastor Oyakhilome attended the official reception to mark the embassy move, which took place at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Pastor Oyakhilome said: “Every Christian must love Israel because adoring Israel is loving Jesus. Evangelical Christians are Israel’s greatest buddies and Israel is open today because she has embraced democracy unlike her neighbours."

This is the third year that Pastor Oyakhilome, along with members of the Believers’ Love World, will be touring the Holy Land. He added that this tour to Israel provides participants with the chance to walk in exactly the same avenues that Jesus Christ walked, bringing the bible to come alive.