Interview was granted in French language and translated by CRC.
TMO – “I would first like to sincerely thank the former President of Benin, Mr. Patrice Talon, for his sincere initiative from the very beginning. He invested his time, his resources, and met with us several times to discuss the unity of the church. His intentions were genuinely sincere.
Unfortunately, he entrusted the process to people who do not even understand the Celestial Church of Christ. I am referring especially to Assomba Léona and Aka Justin. They do not know the church, yet they want to remake it according to their own human ideas.
From the work we did together and from the reforms they proposed, it became obvious that they know nothing about the church. How can they claim they want to remove the church’s spirituality?
President Patrice Talon had good intentions, and we should thank him for that. But since he is not a member of the Celestial Church of Christ, he trusted Bertin Bada, who aligned himself with Aka Justin, while Léona became the administrative secretary. Together, they are changing the very foundations of the church.
After attending five or six meetings with them, I finally said: ‘As the biological son of the church’s founder, Samuel Bilehou Joseph Oshoffa (SBJ Oshoffa), I cannot remain part of this group.’ To me, it had become a small faction trying to reshape the church according to its own wishes, and I refused to participate.
Again, I thank former President Talon for his efforts toward unity, but the people he appointed simply do not understand the church. They may have been born in it or joined it, but they are leading us down the path of the Catholic Church. We are not Catholics and we will never become Catholics. The church was founded on spirituality, not on human traditions.
These people no longer even respect the founder. They claim that anyone can become the Pastor of the church, as if the founder were no different from anyone else. But God chose Samuel Bilehou Joseph Oshoffa in 1947 because He saw his heart. He was God’s chosen servant to establish this church.
Today they treat Papa Oshoffa as though he were just another ordinary man. That is unacceptable. Just as Moses and Abraham had unique divine callings, Oshoffa also had a unique spiritual calling from God.
I am proud to be his biological son. They criticize me for saying so, but Bertin Bada has a biological father, Assomba has a biological father, Aka has a biological father, and mine is Samuel Bilehou Joseph Oshoffa. I am not ashamed of that.
No matter what anyone wants to do with the church, the fact remains that my father founded it, and I am proud of him.
For a long time we remained silent while they insulted Pastor Emmanuel Oshoffa on social media. We, the Oshoffa children, can no longer remain silent. They think only they have the right to speak, but we also have the right to defend our father’s work.
Pastor Emmanuel Oshoffa was right to leave the reform committee because no son would accept seeing his father’s work being destroyed. Some members of the Oshoffa family have remained with the committee according to their own conscience, but those of us who were there from the beginning know exactly what has been happening.
I was among those closest to the committee. I know what I am talking about. At a certain point I realized that if I continued and signed their documents, I would betray my father’s legacy. One day I too will die—what would I tell him? That the church abandoned the Holy Spirit and became like the Catholic Church? We are not Catholics and never will be.
The Celestial Church is unique. It was founded on spirituality. After seven days and seven nights of divine revelation, Papa Oshoffa received the name of the church. Now they are telling us to return to conclaves and imitate the Catholic Church. I cannot accept that. Pastor Emmanuel cannot accept that either. That is why we resigned, and we have absolutely no regrets.
I repeat: we have no regrets. And I declare that he will continue to serve for many more years in the name of Jesus Christ. Whether people like him or not, many people still support him.”
“No, we do not choose him. He is the longest-serving Pastor. If you say God chose the Pastor, then today, throughout the world, after his father who occupied the throne for 38 years, among all the pastors who have served on that throne, he is the only one who has now served for 24 years, and by the name of Jesus Christ, he will serve even longer.
Whether people like him or not, whether they love him or not, Pastor Emmanuel has his faults. I am not saying he is a saint. No one on this earth is a saint. Everyone has weaknesses. But today he bears the seal of Christ’s love and the legacy of his father. Like it or not, he currently oversees about 80% of the parishes worldwide—in America, Canada, France, Benin, Nigeria, East and Central Africa, South Africa, and elsewhere. Pastor Emmanuel is recognized there.
If others want to create their own version of the Celestial Church, that is their business. But sooner or later the truth will come out, and everyone will recognize that Pastor Emmanuel was right to withdraw from the committee (CSC/CSMO).
No, we did not stay until the end of the process. During the presentation of the committee’s conclusions, Pastor Emmanuel was not even present. We withdrew before the work was completed. Even former President Talon acknowledged that he and Pastor Emmanuel disagreed on certain issues, and that Pastor Emmanuel therefore withdrew.
Everything happening in Benin concerns Benin alone. It has nothing to do with Nigeria. I assure you of that. In Nigeria we have already withdrawn. I also know it will not work in Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, France, or elsewhere. At most, these reforms may apply within Benin’s borders, but they cannot be imposed on Nigeria, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, or the rest of the world. We have already seen that this approach will not work.
As Pastor Emmanuel said during our extraordinary session in Ketu last Thursday 11th of June 2026: ‘If we no longer know where we are going, we should return to where we came from.’ That is exactly why we withdrew.
Again, with all due respect to former President Talon for everything he did for the Church, his intention was sincerely to reunify the Church. But the people he placed in charge became the real problem. They constantly changed the decisions we had reached. After finishing our committee sessions and agreeing on conclusions, we would come back the next day only to discover that everything had been changed. They tried to impose their decisions on us, and whenever someone wanted to speak, they were shouted down.
As Pastor Emmanuel said, the Church is not a battlefield. I respect the General for his military rank, but the Church is not an army where orders are simply given and everyone obeys. The Church is spiritual.
Do they even understand the role of the spiritual elders? Do they understand the visionaries of the Church? There are people whose spiritual authority must be respected—our elders, visionaries, and spiritual leaders. But these people think only in human terms. Darkness will never overcome light.
In Nigeria we withdrew, and our conscience is at peace. As for those in Benin, we are not challenging the government. The Bible in Romans 13:1-7 tells us to respect the authorities. So they must work within the framework established by Benin. However, I believe there will soon be another vote—even within the Holy Seal of the Church. Write that down.
How can you imagine that General Coordinator Bertin Bada, wearing a business suit instead of church robes, would issue letters appointing diocesan heads? Look at the photographs from the installation ceremony. Everyone else was dressed in liturgical robes, while Mr. Bada wore a suit and shoes. Yet he is the one signing appointment letters for diocesan leaders, regional youth leaders, and controlling the Church’s administration.
How can a man dressed as an ordinary administrator direct the spiritual leaders of the Church? This is not how the Celestial Church was founded.
The God of Oshoffa is not asleep. He sees everything. He will rise up and restore His Church. Those surrounding him should be careful, because the Celestial Church is not a worldly institution—it is a spiritual Church.
To conclude, I say to all Celestial Church members that what is happening is an attempt to remove the Church’s spiritual foundation. It is as though they want to erase the memory of Jesus Christ from the Church, erase the memory of Papa Oshoffa, and create an entirely new church. That will be very difficult to accomplish.
I believe that very soon everyone will admit that Pastor Emmanuel was right. We are waiting for the decisions that the Church authorities will make. We already know the direction they intend to take: they want to travel from country to country appointing diocesan leaders. But the people there are waiting for them, and no one will follow them.
That is why we held our extraordinary meeting—to alert all our dioceses throughout the world that we have already withdrawn and that we will not return to a Catholic- or Methodist-style system where everything is governed by human administration.
It is true that Papa Oshoffa did not have extensive formal education, but spiritually he was highly instructed. He possessed divine wisdom from Jesus Christ. That is why, at the age of 38, God called him and entrusted him with this mission. He served for 38 years before passing away at the age of 66. He bore the divine seal of Jesus Christ.
When the Virgin Mary appeared to him in 1977, she told him: ‘Do not think that because you are Black… It is your heart that my Son Jesus Christ saw. He looked into your heart, chose you, and entrusted you with this mission.’
Interviewer: Your father was not an ordinary man. That is why we who are alive today will continue to defend his cause, defend his memory, and defend the teachings he left behind.
Finally, I once again thank former President Talon for sincerely investing his time, effort, and resources in trying to unite the Church. His intentions were genuine. Unfortunately, the people he placed at the head of the process…”
To conclude, I once again thank the former President for his commitment, for investing his resources and every effort toward the unity of the Church. His intentions truly came from the bottom of his heart.
Unfortunately, the people he placed in charge are the very ones who are undermining the Church. They are the ones who caused the failure of the CRC’s work and the effort to unify the Church.
I say it again and repeat it: they are the ones responsible—no one else. I am referring to Bertin Bada, Aka Justin, and Assomay (or Assomba), the secretary.
Thank you very much. Thank you. May the peace of Christ be with His Church and with all of us. Thank you. See you soon. Thank you very much.
Thank you.”
Interview posted by ECC IVOIRE
..
PLEASE HELP REBROADCAST!
