A traditionalist in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Chief Dada Obatala, has challenged adherents of both Christianity and Islamic religions to define who a pagan is in the interest of clarification.

Obatala who pleaded for religious harmony and understanding in the country while speaking with Community News in his temple, decried insinuation in some quarters, which portrayed African traditional religion worshippers as “pagans and idol-worshippers”, adding that “we, also like Christians and Muslims, worship the Supreme Being, the creator of heaven and earth in a way that we believe in, and just like in their religious faiths, we traditionalists abhor violence and other vices which are sinful in the sight of God, so their insinuation about us is very incorrect.”

The Obatala devotee further blamed the Federal, state and local governments for their non-challant attitude and non-recognition of traditional religion, which he described as “religious colonisation,” but added that top officials in government and captains of indurstries patronised traditional worshippers clandestinely.