According to Punch, a 72-year-old man on Saturday married his 60-year-old lover who had lived with him for 45 years. The couple were married at a mass wedding ceremony at a church, Omega Power Ministries, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. According to the church’s Facebook post, the wedding ceremony which was financed by the church involved 140 other couples who had lived together for many years without being legally married.
The church said it provided money for the bride price, wedding gown for brides, suits, shirts and ties for the grooms and that. According to the OPL General Overseer, Chibuzor Chinyere, he conducted the wedding ceremony so that the couple and others will not be condemned by God.
“I decided to do this because everyday, I get sleepless nights because of the amount of people living together when God has not joined them. It is a sin before God. Do you know that one out of every five people you see on the street are living together without being legally married? If rapture happens now, they will all miss rapture. So what is the solution? Solution number one: couples must live apart until you get money to wed, which is very risky.
“Any of those women can be my sister or maybe she already has five children. The woman will suffer. And a strange woman may come in. Solution number two: Legalise their union. But many don’t have money to legalise it. They already have children, but no money to pay bride price. So that is why I decided to intervene, so that when rapture happens they shall not be found wanting,” Chinyere said.
Speaking further, he stated:
“What is a church building when the people inside the building have visa to go to hellfire. Salvation is better than a beautiful church building.That is why I conducted marriage blessing for 140 couples at the OPM headquarters. By the grace of God, I gave them money to pay bride prices. I bought wedding suits and gowns including shirts and tie for 140 couples. I paid for their marriage certificates and also food and drinks at the reception. Now I can sleep well knowing that an additional 140 souls have been added to the kingdom of God.”