As Archbishop Obinna Accepts He Was Assaulted, PDP Says God’s Wrath Will Call On Okorocha
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By Austin Echefu
Two days after his attack by agents of the state government, the archbishop of Owerri Catholic archdiocese, AJV Obinna, has accepted that he was actually attacked by the agents of Okorocha’s government during a commendnantion service at Mgwoma Obube Community in Owerri North LGA on Saturday, even as the PDP in Imo State said that God’s wrath will soon be visited in Governor Okorocha.
The Archbishop said his assault on Saturday was like Jesus “Christ’s humiliation on the cross of Calvary”, adding that he had left his “assault” by the “All Progressives Congress members loyal to the Imo State Government” in God’s hands.
Speaking through the Director of Media and Communications of the Owerri Catholic Archdiocese, Rev Fr. George Nwachukwu, the Archbishop said that he was “insulted and assaulted by the APC members.”
He said: “The Archbishop and the archdiocese have decided to take no action against the APC members who assaulted the church.
“We have taken the assault on the archbishop the same way Jesus was insulted, assaulted and humiliated on the cross of Calvary.
“We have left it in the hands of God. The assault to the church and the archbishop was very painful, provocative and highly unwarranted; but we have resolved to press no charges but to leave it in the hands of God.”
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State has condemned the attack on the Archbishop, comparing Okorocha to biblical King Ahab, saying that “The PDP is convinced that like Ahab, the prophet of Baal in the Holy Bible, the Imo State Government officials and their pay masters, who delight in indulging in reprehensible attacks against anointed men of God, will soon be visited with the wrath of God. God is not a man that He can be mocked by mere uncultured mortals and marabous as can be found in Imo APC and among Imo government officials”.
According to a press release by the Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Damian Opera, the PDP said that attack on the Archbishop was “one aggression too many.”
The party also lamented that “It has become the hallmark of the APC government and its officials in Imo State to always met out physical assault on perceived critics of the party and the government. They are undoubtedly averse to criticism even when it is clear that they have grossly mis-managed the state and her resources, and foisted untold hardship on the people.
“To have attacked a highly revered cleric like Archbishop AJV Obinna under the supervision and in full glare of Governor Okorocha’s wife and his Chief of Staff is a pointer to what Imo people should expect in the days ahead as 2019 general elections draw nearer. The Archbishop’s crime was that he echoed the minds of majority of Imolites by urging the people to acquire their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and be ready to vote out the incompetent, visionless and anti-people APC government in Imo State”, said the PDP.
The party backed the Archbishop for speaking the mind of the people at the commendation service, saying: “The Archbishop incontrovertibly spoke the minds of Imolites who are fed up with the APC administration. Besides, as a Nigerian, he has right to freedom of expression just as the APC miscreants who attacked him, equally have a right to reply him.
“Recourse to brutality against the Archbishop for a mere comment he made, portrays the Imo government officials as reckless, naïve, primitive and lacking in decorous conduct.
“The PDP Imo State Chapter sympathizes with the Owerri Catholic Archdiocese and most particularly, His Grace, Archbishop AJV Obinna for this unholy and atavistic assault. It is not in doubt, that the APC has become jittery of its imminent exit from Douglas House, Owerri, and like a drowning man, is willing to clutch on anything within its reach to remain afloat including resort to brutality against personal enemies.
“To have attacked the Archbishop is indeed most unfortunate and intolerable in any civilized clime. Imo people are consequently implored to be on the alert for such further occurrences”.
