- Chukwuma Elizabeth Onyinye, a Nigerian woman, shared her experience at the Shiloh 2025 programme at Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel).
- Her Facebook post sparked significant online reactions.
- Onyinye accused the church of promoting misogyny and gender segregation.
A Nigerian woman, Chukwuma Elizabeth Onyinye, has triggered widespread reactions online after recounting her experience at the recently concluded Shiloh 2025 programme held at the Living Faith Church headquarters, popularly known as Winners Chapel.
Taking to Facebook, Onyinye accused the church of promoting misogyny and gender segregation, particularly through its seating arrangements during services.
She alleged that women were treated as inferior worshippers, claiming that the front rows were reserved exclusively for men. According to her, women who arrived early and took seats before the service began were later instructed to move to the back simply because of their gender.
Onyinye narrated that while seated at the front during the programme, a man approached her in the middle of the service and asked her to vacate the seat, telling her:
“Front seat is for men only, you need to move.”
The directive reportedly left her shocked, as she questioned why such a rule would be enforced in a place of worship.
Reacting to the incident, Onyinye expressed anger and disbelief over what she described as unfair treatment. She wrote:
“The level of misogyny in Living Faith Church is actually wild.”
“Explain to me why all the front seats are reserved for men, while women, who came early, who sat down before service even started, are chased to the back like second-class worshippers.”
“I was invited for Shiloh, we arrived on time. I took my seat at the front.”
“In the middle of service, with the place already packed, one man walked up to me and said, ‘Front seat is for men only, you need to move.’”
“I genuinely looked at him like, What exactly do you expect me to do with that information?”
“Because why should I move?”
“Why should I accept humiliation in the same house of God that created male and female?”
She further criticised what she described as excessive monitoring and control of women under the guise of church protocol, adding:
“The audacity.”
“The entitlement.”
“The shameless policing of women in the name of ‘protocol.’”
Onyinye also pointed out that women actively contribute to the church but are sidelined when it comes to recognition and respect. She wrote:
“Women pray. Women fast. Women give. Women attend faithfully, women partake in cleaning the church, yet when it’s time to sit at the front, suddenly women become ‘unqualified.’”
Another concern she raised was what she described as a double standard in the seating arrangement. According to her, only Bishop David Oyedepo’s wife is allowed to sit at the front. She stated:
“And the funniest part?”
“Their overall Mama Oyedekpo is literally the ONLY woman allowed to sit in the front, because she’s sitting beside her husband”
“And me that came with my own man earlier and sat at the front they want me to move to the back and sit seperately from my ODOGWU!”
Upset by the incident, Onyinye disclosed that she reduced her offering as a form of protest. She said:
“My Baby actually gave me offering of 5,000 naira. Well packaged inside white envelope.
“But the moment that usher opened his mouth to spew that nonsense, I removed the money immediately and slashed the money he gave me down to 200 naira.”
She ended her post by calling on the church leadership to address what she described as sexist and discriminatory practices, writing:
“WINNERS CHAPEL WORLDWIDE Living Faith Tabernacle Churches Bishop David Olaniyi Oyedepo, do better.”
“You cannot preach love, unity, and equality in Christ while practicing gender segregation like it’s the 1800s.”
“You want people to give cheerfully, yet you treat half of your congregation like they don’t matter.”
“Make it make sense.”
“Stop the segregation.”
“Stop the sexist protocols.”
“Stop hiding misogyny behind ‘orderliness.’”
“Church is supposed to be a place where everybody is welcome, not a place where women are reminded that they are second-class.”
Her post has since sparked mixed reactions on social media, with Nigerians expressing differing opinions on the issue.
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