A young Nigerian man has sparked widespread discussion after publicly sharing his experience of being denied entry to a church in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, because of his hair colour.
The Shocking Rejection
In a detailed TikTok post that has since gone viral, the user identified as @emryl0 narrated how he was turned away at the entrance of Church of Christ, Paul Bassey in Uyo. The incident occurred when two deacons stationed at the church door prevented him from entering the worship center.
The young man described how their eyes were filled with condemnation rather than the love of Christ, expressing deep disappointment that a place claiming to represent Jesus would judge someone based on appearance rather than spiritual need.
The Heartbreaking Details
According to his emotional account, he had approached the church with a genuine desire to worship, stating his soul was yearning for God that day. However, he never made it past the doorway. The deacons delivered what he called a brutal verdict: he was not worthy to enter, worship, or hear the word of God because his hair was coloured black and brown.
Let the sheer, staggering blasphemy of that moment wash over you, he wrote in his post. A place that claims the name of Jesus Christ, the friend of sinners, turned a seeking soul away at the door not for violence or vice, but for a choice of hairspray.
Public Reaction and Church Hypocrisy
The man pointed out what he perceived as hypocrisy within the congregation, noting that he knew there were members inside with dyed hair that was considered respectable because it was uniformly black. He condemned what he called the church's man-made filter that distinguishes between acceptable and unacceptable hair dye.
This is not Christianity, he declared. This is the modern resurrection of the very Pharisaism that Jesus himself spit fire upon.
The post has generated significant engagement on social media, with many Nigerians sharing similar experiences of judgment in religious settings.
Community Responses
Several TikTok users expressed sympathy and shared their own encounters with religious discrimination:
- One user invited him to visit CCI church on Brooks Street, promising a more welcoming environment
- Another commenter who identified as a member of the same church expressed interest in having a conversation with him
- A user born into the church described Paul Bassey as the third worst example of any COC
- Multiple people reported similar experiences at other Church of Christ branches across Nigeria
The young man's experience highlights ongoing debates about judgment, acceptance, and the true meaning of Christian values in modern Nigerian society. His story continues to resonate with many who feel that some religious institutions have strayed from their core principles of unconditional love and acceptance.
