Sponsored Link
Follow OlofofoVillage on Twitter!
Like OlofofoVillage on Facebook!
Traditionalists in Obu¬bo village, Ugbenu, in Awka North Local Government Area of Anam¬bra State, at the weekend un¬leashed terror on a Catholic Priest and his parishioners during a procession in the community.
The cleric, who is recu¬perating in a hospital, was shot and stabbed by armed youths who were hired by the leaders of a deity in the vil¬lage. They also injured 20 of the Catholic faithful.
The victim, Rev. Father Fidelis Ifeanyichukwu Ugo¬zo, of St. Raphael’s Catholic Church, was leading his con-gregation in a prayer proces¬sion when the suspected tra¬ditional worshippers struck.
The AUTHORITY learnt that the hoodlums, who were armed with dangerous weap¬ons, stabbed the cleric and shot him twice from behind.
The youths were said to have torn the priest’s humer¬al veil to shreds and stabbed him on the face while his fol-lowers were wounded. Res¬idents said that the priest holds a monthly Rosary procession in the village.
According to eyewitness¬es, the priest was carrying the “Blessed Sacrament” with his parishioners moving from one village to the other when they were intercepted by one Mr. Gabriel Ikegbunam, now at large.
They said that Ikegbunem insisted that they would not be allowed to enter Obubo village. When the congrega-tion allegedly ignored him, he called in some youths who at¬tacked the priest and others who were mainly women and children.
Father Ugozo, who is the Spiritual Director of Amen and Amen Ministry, Omor, in Orumba North Local Gov-ernment Area of Anambra State, was first rushed to an undisclosed hospital in Eben¬ebe before being transferred to St. Joseph’s Hospital, Adazi Ani.
A former Catechist in St. Raphael’s Parish, Ug¬benu, Chief Cletus Nwank¬wo, told The AUTHORITY that Obubo village is known in Ugbenu town for idol wor¬shipping. He said the youths suspected that the Rosary procession was aimed at de¬stroying their deity’s shrine.
He said: “They (parish¬ioners) moved from Agueke village to Obiagu and decid¬ed to veer into Obubo before Ikegbunam blocked them and in the process alerted the youths that some Catholics were coming to burn their shrine. The youths trooped out, wielding dangerous weapons such as axes, guns and machetes.
“They grabbed the Bless¬ed Sacrament from our Par¬ish Priest, hit it on the floor and used the Monstrance to hit our priest on his hand be¬fore stabbing him on the face and other parts of the body”.
The Traditional Ruler of Ugbenu Town, Igwe Law¬rence Egwuonu, whose wife, Lolo Egwuonwu, was bat¬tered by the youths, said that Ikegbunam, Israel Egwu and two others stormed his palace before the incident occurred to complain that their shrine and other sacred symbols were burnt by some Chris¬tians.
“Upon investigation,” he said, “I discovered that they were all liars. None of their shrines was burnt and I can defend it anywhere. It was Ikegbunam that incit¬ed others to attack the priest and other Christians. Their greatest mistake was touch¬ing the priest and destroying the Blessed Sacrament. It is a sacrilege and they will pay for it”.
At the time of filing this report, two of the suspects, Mr. Anthony Anigbogu and Humphrey Ekwenye, had been arrested by the Police and taken to the State Crim¬inal Investigation Depart¬ment (SCID), Awka.
Others: Moses Ekwe¬nye, the gang leader (Ikeg¬bunam), Amechi Onuorah, Sunday Okoye and Tochuk¬wu Okoye, were said to be on the run.
Other suspects still at large are Sunday Innocent, Amaechi Anozie, Oge Nna¬kee, Lambert Okoye, Ejike Okafor and Omenankiti Uba.
The Chief Priest of “Ofufe” Deity, Mr. Ome¬nankiti Uba, could not be reached for comments but one of his allies who sought anonymity, said they were protecting their Ofufe Dei¬ty since the Catholic Priest was in the habit of destroying shrines in the community.
Residents who did not want to be named said the incident happened around 3pm when the Catholic faith¬ful were on their Rosary and Eucharistic procession.
They said that the priest was about escaping when he heard that the hoodlums were about to shoot him from the back which they eventually did.
One of the residents said that the attack may not be unconnected to a spiritual cleansing the priest carried out three years ago when he resumed duty in the area. He said that although the priest was the prime target of the at¬tack, some of his parishioners were wounded, including the wife of the traditional ruler of the community and a woman whose finger was cut off.
Our reporter learnt the cleric was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where he was first attended to before he was later brought to the present hospital.
When contacted, the State Police Command said it was not aware of the may¬hem but would make con¬tacts to establish the true po¬sition of things.
The Police Public Rela¬tions Officer, Nkiru Nwode, said that the incident had not been reported to the police.
Like OlofofoVillage on Facebook!
Post a Comment