Catholic Church, Nkpor in Idemili North Local Government
Area of Anambra State, near Onitsha, Rev. Fr. Martin
Onukwuba and another priest-in-residence, Rev. Fr. Ben
Oguejieofor, yesterday, escaped death by whiskers when
some suspected arsonists invaded the church premises and set
the priests' house ablaze.
The incident, according to sources, occurred while Fr.
Onukwuba was celebrating a morning mass inside the main
church building, while Fr. Oguejiofor was in the fathers'
house.
It was not yet clear, at press time, who the arsonists were but
the police at Ogidi Division have arrested no fewer than 12
suspects, including some workers at Our Lady's Bread Bakery
and Industrial Centre within the compound.
The two priests below and : The burnt building Fr. Onukwuba and Oguejiofor confirmed to newsmen at the
scene that when they noticed unusual movements within the
church compound, they scaled the fence and jumped into
neighbouring compound in order not to be burnt alive.
They also confirmed that the attackers who they suspected to
be security operatives guarding the compound, started their
operation in the early hours, shooting sporadically in the air
and into the two-storey building where the Reverend Fathers
reside.
According to them, when the attack became too hot for them,
they escaped by jumping through the fence into an adjacent
compound.
They further confirmed that although there were some gun
shorts,Tuesday night, around the area, the main attack came in
the early hours of yesterday.
Specifically, Fr. Onukwuba disclosed that the Ogidi High
Court had earlier issued an order that the blockages mounted
by the security officers inside the Our Lady's Industrial
Centre to block vehicular movements to the priests' residence
be dismantled, an order which he said did not go down well
with the security men.
Onukwuba further disclosed that when the attackers could not
get him or the residenct priest, they set the two-storey
building ablaze and also burnt the boy's quarters.
The Parish priest, however, said those arrested by the police
were just members of staff of Our Lady's Industrial Centre
and bakery as the security guards who attacked them were on
the run.
It would be recalled that the proprietor of Our Lady's Industrial Centre, Mrs. Onuora, built the church single
handedly and donated it to the church many years ago. It was
commissioned by Cardinal Francis Arinze, the then Archbishop of Onitsha.
But recently, one of her daughters who was said to have left
the Catholic church and joined a pentecostal church has been
itching to throw out the Catholic faithful from the premises, to
hand it over to her new denomination.
The counsel to the church, C. J. Asiegbu also told newsmen
that he was seriously suspecting the security operatives in the
compound who are in the employ of the land lady who he said
was in court with the church, prior to the incident.
The Divisional Police Officer at Ogidi, Mr. Yusuf Abdul who
confirmed the incident, said he had deployed some policemen
to the church premises to effect more arrests.
Via: Vanguard
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