The Nsukka Catholic Community Association in South South, South East, Abuja and Lagos has risen in defence of their home Bishop, the Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Rev. Prof Godfrey Igwebuike Onah whom an Islamic group claimed delivered some inciting homilies.
The group under their umbrella body, the Nsukka Catholic Community Association, NCCA, in a statement titled IN RE: COMPLAINT ON REV. FATHER (SIC) GODFREY IGWEBUIKE ONAH’SHATEFUL SERMON AND ITS CONSEQUENT MURDER OF MUSLIMS AND DESTRUCTION OF THEIR PROPERTY IN THE SOUTH-EAST AND SOUTH-SOUTH ZONES OF NIGERIA totally dissociated their Bishop from any crisis within and around Nsukka and any other part of this country.
In the statement signed by Sir Theo Didigwu from Rivers, South South, Mathias Omeh from Enugu South East, Dr Steve Okolo, Lagos and Dr. M.O.D Abonyi from the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Abuja, the group frowned at the mischievous linkage of Bishop Onah’s innocuous homilies to the crisis in the country and sees it as an attempt to intimidate and cow the Bishop and prevent him from carrying out his duty as the chief Shepherd of the good people of Nsukka Diocese.
“We the Nsukka Catholic Community in Rivers, Lagos, Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia states and Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja wish to register our displeasure at the attempt to intimidate and cow our beloved Bishop who has been wonderful in his duty as the Shepherd of our people by linking his innocuous homily to a general crisis in the land involving our youths.
The advised that “rather than try to discourage, every effort should be made to encourage and cooperate with our faith leaders at this time that our country is going through real turbulent times.”
Recall that the Deputy Secretary General of the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) one Prof. Salisu Shehu, reportedly filed a petition accusing the Bishop of inciting the youths through his homilies.
The full text of the statement read:
NSUKKA CATHOLIC COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
LAGOS, PORT HARCOURT, ABUJA AND SOUTH EAST STATES
IN RE: COMPLAINT ON REV. FATHER (SIC) GODFREY IGWEBUIKE ONAH’SHATEFUL SERMON AND ITS CONSEQUENT MURDER OF MUSLIMS AND DESTRUCTION OF THEIR PROPERTY IN THE SOUTH-EAST AND SOUTH-SOUTH ZONES OF NIGERIA
Our attention has been drawn to and purportedly signed by one Prof. Salisu Shehu, the Deputy Secretary General of the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and captioned as above, and which said petition has gone viral in the social media, as well as other print media, a petition dated 1st November, 2020, addressed to the Director General, Department of State Security Service, DSS, Aso Drive Abuja,
The author of the said petition in summary, accused His Lordship, Bishop Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, the Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Enugu State of making inciting comments in the course of his sermon (homilies). In the author’s understanding and interpretations, the homilies gave rise to the crisis that took place in Nsukka on Saturday, October 31, 2020. Curiously, the author also attributed the crisis that took place in South-South and other parts of the South-East Regions of our country in the wake of the #ENDSARS protests to the said sermon/homily.
We have also read the text and listened to the said homily of the Bishop, Prof. Godfrey Igwebuike Onah (which are also in the public domain) and deem it expedient to draw the following inferences:
1. That the subject sermon/homily (which for some inexplicable reasons has become offensive to the author of the said petition contains nothing inciting, divisive, provocative, or offensive to or against any person(s), tribe(s), groups or religion.
2. That the homily (both in diction and manner of rendition) merely encapsulates the socio-political ills that have bedeviled our dear country, Nigeria and which have consistently been topics of public discourse.