By Charly Udeh
Before now, the few Nsukka labourers and their sponsors, who are behind Bar. Chijioke Edeoga’s drowning governorship ambition did everything possible, including marooning, blackmailing and mudslinging Nsukka churches, thier leaderships and followers, especially the Catholic Diocese for having mere interactive sessions with the PDP governorship candidate, Bar. Peter Mbah and other PDP candidates.
In their usual social media propaganda and mischief, they had severally accused the Nsukka Catholic leadership of being compromised and bribed by the Enugu State PDP led government without any evidence. They have even harangued and castigated the Bishop of Nsukka Diocese on social media for cautioning their political excesses.
Operating under different guises, pen names and fake online media, they have fabricated and peddled all sorts of lies and falsehoods against the church denominations and their leaders. They had even issued several fake statements attributing them to the church leadership, all in a bid to see if they can pitch the churches against the PDP and its supporters in Enugu North Senatorial zone and by extension Enugu state in general.
They have dragged the churches in Nsukka and their leaders to the mud. Evidences of false publications against the churches and their leaders by these desperate Nsukka labourers are everywhere.
They nearly succeeded in blackmailing the Nsukka Catholic Diocese to submission when some priests of the Diocese such as Rev. Fr. Dennis Attah and Rev. Fr. Ben Agbo, the blood brother of Hon. Cosmos Agbo, erstwhile deputy chairman Nsukka LGA now a labourer played into their hands and started writing some unsolicited, insultive, malicious and divisive open letter to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, whipping up phantom Nsukka interest that has been the hallmark of the Nsukka labourers and their electioneering campaigns.
It is no longer in doubt that some of these Nsukka Catholic priests have become more political than politicians, hiding under the Obidient movement that they have not been able to separate from Nsukka labourers’ divisive and fraudulent tendencies, plans and activities.
They have easily forgotten that the labourers in Nsukka are bunch of desperados and social media bandits whose only tool for campaign is blackmail and cheap propaganda hiding under Nsukka phantom interest.
These Nsukka labourers and their social media wolves are at it again.They are behind the recent social media fake news alleging that the PDP Deputy Governorship candidate, Bar. Ifeanyi Ossai threatened one Rev. Fr. Everistus Isife serving somewhere in Orba, Udenu LGA without telling the world what truly transpired.
For those who are not in the know, Rev. Fr. Isife is from Ukehe town in Igbo-Etiti LGA, the town of an ex-minister, who is behind the shaky governorship project of Edeoga, who is also a brother- in- law to his elder sister.
The ex-minister as seen in recent viral video campaigning for Edeoga in the night at Onyohor community in Igbo-Etiti LGA is the man behind all the vicious and malicious social media campaign of calumny and propagation of falsehoods against Bar. Mbah, Governor Ugwuanyi and other PDP candidates in Enugu.
It is not surprising that Rev. Fr. Isife was recently caught red handed and pant down playing a written script of the Nsukka labourers by using ballot paper in his Church to teach congregants how to vote for Labour Party in the forthcoming elections.
Before Rev. Fr. Isife’s macabre dance and political meddlesomeness that had put him on the spot, some misled Nsukka Catholic priests such as Rev. Fr. Donatus Ajibo, Rev. Fr. Mathew Ezea and few others have hidden under the non-governmental agency affiliated to Catholic Church called Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) to play the script of the Nsukka labourers in the name of campaign debate and interactive session that is niether here nor there.
In one of such charades they organised at the Nsukka Catholic Cathedral, the priests out of compromise and sympathy for the Nsukka labourers allowed them to hijack the exercise and used it as a campaign tool against the PDP candidates and their members.
A typical case was that of Engr. Vita Abba, who had earlier taken permission from the organisers of the exercise to leave for a scheduled campaign outing after his appearance and presentations. But, surprisely and shockingly, when Engr. Abba left the venue of the event after making his presentations, the partisan priests and known sympathizers of Nsukka labourers which included Rev.Fr. Mathew Ezea, Rev.Fr. Donatus Ajibo and others started fuming and accusing Engr. Abba of walking out on them. How can the priests falsely accuse a man who honoured their invitation, made presentations and rushed out to meet up with his campaign outings of walking out on them?
What were the motives of these priests and what do they stand for? Nobody is against the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka organising a debate or interactive session for party candidates in Enugu North Senatorial zone ahead of the elections, but people are against politicising and sectionalising the exercise, especially in the light of the fact that it is a public knowledge that the ex-minister from Nsukka has been calling priests and well meaning individuals from Nsukka on phone soliciting for their support to stop Governor Ugwuanyi’s senatorial ambition and Bar. Mbah’s governorship ambition by all means.
It is also known that the likes of Hon. Dennis Agbo, Bar. Okey Ezea and Bar. Chijioke Edeoga have been nocturnally visiting some Nsukka Catholic priests, mesmerising and bamboozling them with the lies and falsehoods they will like to hear such as-Governor Ugwuanyi has not done anything in Nsukka and Nsukka people. Governor Ugwuanyi hates Nsukka people. Nsukka people have been marginalised for too long. Governor Ugwuanyi has cornered everything for his Udenu people. That Edeoga is an Nsukka man and the rest of them.
This is why some of them have lost their sense of reasoning and spiritual callings and turned their pulpits to campaign arena for some Nsukka labourers, who delusionally believe that they can ride unto power through Mr. Peter Obi’s Obidient movement, sectional and religious sentiments.
What these Nsukka Catholic priests who have become and shown their partisanship failed to understand is that Catholic church is not a political party and their priests are not expected to be partisan.
It seems that the ungodly and unbecoming behaviour coupled with the open partisan dispositions of these political Nsukka Catholic priests has heightened in the absence of the Bishop Igwubuike Onah who is presently abroad.
There is urgent need for the leadership of Nsukka Catholic Diocese to wake up to the challenge by calling their erring priests to order and possibly reprimand them for being partisan. These priests are known.
If Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka could be reprimanded by Enugu Catholic Diocese for making mere unguarded political outbursts, what stops the leadership of Nsukka Catholic Diocese from reprimanding their priests that are openly using their pulpits to campaign for Nsukka labourers.
After all, they are desecrating and politicising the temple of God, pitching the people against each other by using the pulpits to campaign for Nsukka labourers against other political parties’ candidates.
The Nsukka labourers are not more Catholic and Nsukka than Nsukka PDP candidates, leaders and members. Nsukka people and churches have never been for religious politics. It is a dangerous trend being brought in by desperate Nsukka labourers behind Bar. Edeoga’s sinking governorship ambition.
Why is it that among all the Catholic Dioceses in Enugu state, Nsukka Diocese has been in the news for wrong political reasons? Why is that it is only in Nsukka Diocese that some partisan and interested priests are organising election debates and interactive sessions that have always been overtly and covertly hijacked by Nsukka labourers to play sectional and divisive politics?
These germane questions call for urgent actions by the leadership and followership of Nsukka Catholic Diocese before the situation escalates and destroys the vestiges, spirituality, independence and neutrality of the Catholic church.
Udeh writes from Ogui Road, Enugu State.
