The Parish Priest of Our Lady of
Fatima 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
Frs. 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.
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