Popular Catholic priest, Ejike Mbaka has defended himself after being accused of attacking BBC reporters.
While the journalists,
Chioma Obianinwa and Nnamdi Agbanelo alleged that they were attacked by Mbaka
and some men at his residence over a “negative” reportage about the priest,
Maximus Ugwuoke, spokesman of Mbaka’s ministry alleged that the reporters who
they thought were assassins were attacked for secretly recording the day’s
ministry programme.
Ugwuoke insisted that
Mbaka did not invite the BBC team and was notified of their presence at the
venue.
He was quoted saying
by Vanguard;
“We make haste to
state that the report was a carefully crafted mendacious narrative calculated
to tarnish the image of Fr Mbaka who in his amiable nature could not have done
or directed any of those alleged acts of assault on the BBC team or anyone as alleged
against him.
“An eye witness
account of what happened reveals that one Fr Obiekeze (Cajetan) who estranged
himself from the ministry and made a viral video with BBC recently abusing Fr
Mbaka and his perceived romance with President Mohammadu Buhari, came to join
Fr Mbaka at the altar during his last Wednesday’s weekly ministry programme.
“Unknown to anyone in
the ministry, the said priest came with some persons with an unknown identity
who were secretly recording the day’s ministry programme until they were
accosted by the ministry security suspecting them to be assassins on a
surveillance mission. The said ministry security seized the equipment of the
strange fellows and sought to know their identities.
“Later in the evening
after Fr Mbaka was through with the programme and retired to the parish house
to continue his consultation with worshippers waiting to see him, altercations
between the fellows and the security men at Fr Mbaka’s parish house drew Fr
Mbaka’s attention to them and his timely intervention helped to save the
situation.
“Fr Mbaka was
surprised when the unknown fellows identified themselves as coming from BBC
with Fr Obiekezie. Surprised by such obvious betrayal and stage-managed visit
from a fellow priest, Fr Mbaka directed that every of their seized equipment be
returned to them and made sure no one hurt either the priest or the unknown
visitors he surreptitiously came with.
“Fr Mbaka nor the
ministry never invited the said BBC team to the ministry neither was Fr Mbaka
nor the ministry notified of their presence by anyone as alleged.”
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