The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Adoration Ministry

  • Assassination attempt on me is real – Mbaka

    …absolves Catholic Church from plot

     

    Fiery Catholic priest and the Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu (AMEN), Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka on Monday spoke on the alleged assassination attempt on him, saying it was not fabricated.

    Mbaka insisted that agents of darkness were after him going by the reactions that trailed the assassination attempt.

    The Enugu State Police Command through its spokesman, Superintendent Ebere Amaraizu, however, denied knowledge of the development.

    Read Also:Mbaka ‘escapes’ assassination

    In a statement signed by his media aide, Ike Maximus Ugwuoke, Mbaka also absolved the Catholic Church of having a hand in the assassination attempt.

    He said he never at any time blamed the attack on the Church.

    The statement reads: “The report in a section of the media that Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka of Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria ‘fingers the Church on his alleged assassination’ is a false and a sensational headline curled by mischief makers for whatever ends and it is hereby refuted.

    “First, the assassination plot against Fr Mbaka was not a mere ‘allegation” or claim as reported in the media but an established fact. The impact of the bullet on his car which the security agents have confirmed is there for all who cared to see.  It is also ridiculous that two fictitious characters masquerading as concerned Catholics could go wild to insinuate in the media that Fr Mbaka planned his own assassination to curry public sympathy and presidential favour.

    “Such statement depicts how far mischief makers can go in trivializing issues as important as human life and their absolute lack of fear of God. The statement calls to question the level of concern of such

    “Concerned Catholics” in such a matter involving the life of a catholic priest.   We call on security agencies to investigate the source of such media report as the makers of the report or their pay masters may have some useful information to give them in their investigation into the incident.

    “We challenge the two impostors claiming to be writing for the “Concerned Catholics” to come forward with their real identity, parish addresses and contacts to prove the point that they exist and that they are Catholics.

    “We state categorically that in all efforts made to inquire from Fr Mbaka the person or persons behind the gun attack at him, he never at any time named anyone or pointed accusing finger at anyone as the sponsor of his assassination plot, be it the Catholic Church or Whomever.

    “It is wrong and out of context to ascribe to Fr Mbaka any deductions made by any person or group of persons, or associations or followers of Fr Mbaka on the issue whether verbally or in prints. Such persons or group of persons may be freely expressing their sentiments on the issue but they are not speaking for Fr Mbaka and should not be taken or quoted as speaking for Fr Mbaka.

    “Fr Mbaka’s love for the Catholic Church is unquestionable and to allege that he is “unleashing his ministry against the Catholic Church in an attempt to blackmail, or stampede the church into doing his bidding” only portrays the clear mischievous  intention of the originators of the statement to incite the Catholic Church against Fr Mbaka.

    “Such statement can only come from agents of darkness and liars from the pit of hell and should be considered as such.”

    The police said it has not received any report to that effect.

     

  • Shock as 31-yr-old drowns months to wedding

    Shock as 31-yr-old drowns months to wedding

    A pall of grief fell on Uke community in Anambra State, after a worshipper at Adoration Ministry, Miss Olivia Uchechi allegedly drowned in a canal as she was trying to urinate.

    The incident happened penultimate Sunday.

    Shocked residents and friends of the late Uchechi were said to have combed the canal for her whereabouts without success.

    The 31-year-old lady’s wedding was said to be four months away.

    A resident identified as Robert Agu said: ‘’She had left the church in the middle of Sunday service to answer the call of nature when she slipped into the water-logged canal. The service, her friends started looking for her to no avail.

     ‘’They continued their search for her whereabouts till the next day when her body over-bloated body was found the next day. She was found with the dress she wore to church. Her tragic death is unfortunate because her wedding has been slated for December.’’

    It was learnt that her remains were laid to rest last Monday.

    Contacted, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Garba Baba Umar, promised to revert to our correspondence, but he was unable to do so at press time.

    The mobile telephone line of the police spokesperson, Princess Nkeiruka Nwode was also switched off at press time.

  • 2017: Mbaka advises Buhari

    2017: Mbaka advises Buhari

    Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka of the Adoration Ministry in Enugu State has advised President Muhammadu Buhari on leadership in the New Year.

    He gave the advice in Enugu on Saturday in his New Year message at the cross over service to 2017.

    He advised the President to tackle the challenges facing the country, saying “many Nigerians are suffering.

    “Though the President is trying on corruption and security, Nigerians are hungry; they want to see more changes.

    “There is the need to assist businessmen and women in their businesses.”

    He also advised the President to appoint experts who would help him to revive the economy.

    The cleric asked the President to consult Church leaders and eminent men of God
    to advise him and tell him the truth about the economy.

    “We cannot reach him for advice because of the kind of people around him,” he added.

    He then urged Nigerians to be patient and be prayerful “as your sufferings and hardships would be over in 2017.

    “Nigeria is set to be great again,” he stressed.

  • Mbaka raises fresh alarm over threat to his life

    Mbaka raises fresh alarm over threat to his life

    Fiery Enugu Catholic priest and founder of Adoration Ministry, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka Thursday raised fresh alarm over alleged plans to assassinate him before the March 28 general elections.

    Mbaka spoke of a responsible young man who found his way to the podium while preaching and squeezed in a note in which he advised him to leave the country immediately as his “life has been sold”.

    Mbaka, who spoke through the media officer of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Nigeria, Barr. Ike Maximus Ugwuoke, cried out that he had been marked for death before the presidential election.

    In the Press Statement entitled: “JONATHAN WANTS ME DEAD BEFORE THE 2015 ELECTION”, the Adoration Ministry warned that if anything happened to “Mbaka, Jonathan’s government would be held responsible.”

    The statement read: “It is with a deep sense of concern that we are constrained to make this statement on the continued threat to the life of Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka over his 2015 New Year message titled “From Good luck to Badluck”.

    “The issue of threat to Fr’ Mbaka’s life became a public knowledge that it formed the headline of a national daily Publication of 5th January 2015, “My Life in Danger”.  The daily reported, ‘Enugu Catholic priest and the founder of Adoration Ministry, Rev Fr. Ejike Mbaka raised alarm that he has been receiving threat messages following his New Year eve message’.

    “Two days later, 7th January 2015, another daily also reported that the Enugu State Police Command has refuted claims by Fr Mbaka that his life is in danger. It dismissed Fr. Mbaka’s outcry over threat to his life as baseless. The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amarizu, DSP was quoted as saying, ‘We do not have any report by Fr. Mbaka over threat to his life. We have not received any complaint from him’”.

    The Ministry added that, “On the backdrop of the above, one begins to wonder whether the alarm raised by Fr Mbaka  on an alleged plot to kill him was a mere rhetoric as the police had made it to appear merely because there has not been an official report to the police over it. Absence of a formal report on threat to one’s life doesn’t negate the reality of such threat more so when the victim had made a public outcry on this issue. To argue otherwise is akin to denying the fact of death in the face of a man’s corpse merely because there is no certificate certifying his death.

    “Rev Fr. Mbaka had consistently in his public outings been raising alarm over threat to his life and strange calls and messages threatening to assassinate him.  The last of this was his assertion that assassins from the Presidency had been engaged to exterminate his life before the 28th March 2015 Election.

    “This was coming after he had made a public statement on 8th March 2015 that in the presence of some named witnesses, he rejected a parcel of money sent to him by the First Lady through the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and that the rejected money was with the latter.

    The issue of threat to Fr Mbaka’s life has become worrisome that even at his last Friday’s adoration Programme held on 13th March 2015, he did not turnout in his usual car due to security alert he had of his planned assassination on that day. Thursday strange hoodlums in a black hillux besieged his parish compound but they left disappointed when they could not see him.

    “Wherever and whoever this threat is coming from, we state that there are strong and compelling circumstances pointing towards the fact that Fr. Mbaka’s latest attacks were stemming from his said 2015 New Year message which was not favourable to the President Goodluck Jonathan led administration.

    “We also wish to state that before the 2015 New Year message of Fr .Mbaka, he used to pray for Jonathan’s Government and never raised any alarm on threats to his life but after the 31st night message which he was inspired to preach by the Holy Spirit he has been making a public outcry of threat to his life.  This is a clear case of a witch cries in the night and ones child is found dead in the morning.

    “We advise the Goodluck Jonathan’s government that he has a duty to protect and guarantee Fr Mbaka’s life as Adorers, Nigerians, the Catholic Church and indeed the international community will readily point accusing fingers to him, in event of any misfortune against Fr Mbaka or Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria.

    “With the stage the level of threat to Fr Mbaka’s life has reached, we call on Nigerian Police and indeed all security agencies in this country to protect the life of our Spiritual Director we else may resort to enforce his fundamental Rights to life against President Jonathan’s led government  as guaranteed under section 33 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended which confers on Nigerian citizens the power to secure the enforcement of their human rights even in events of likelihood of any infringements.  This is apparently due to the fact that the right to life can only be enjoyed by the living.”