The Catholic Church has explained why it transferred fiery man of God, Father Ejike Mbaka of the Enugu-based Adoration Ministry.

The church said Mbaka’s transfer was not politically motivated as claimed by some persons, saying the controversial priest was only relocated to where he would be more useful to the ministry.

The Secretary-General of the Catholic Secretar‎iat of Nigeria, Reverend Father Ralph Madu, who made this clarification in an interview with Premium Times on Monday, said transfer of priests within the Catholic Church is a “normal church procedure.”

“Mbaka’s own is not an exception. The Bishop has the right to post any priest wherever he feels his service would be more useful to the church,” the cleric said.

Madu was apparently replying to a statement credited to the All Progressives Congress, where it claimed Mbaka’s relocation to Emene was fueled by his recent prophecies about the state of the nation.

Also father Mbaka had in his farewell speech admitted that he was going to suffer in his new place of assignment.

He said, “I know we are going to suffer within now and few months to come,” the priest said. I am going to suffer and suffer; I know that. I’m going to suffer because I have no place to put my head. I am going to suffer because I have no place to keep the Adoration Ministry’s assets. I know I’m going to suffer.”

On Sunday, the South-East zone of the All Progressives Congress alleged that Bishop Callistus Onaga was manipulated by external forces into effecting Mr. Mbaka’s transfer.

“As a party, we have watched with concern and trepidation the criticism, the attack, assault and unpleasant comments hurled against Fr. Mbaka since he providentially prophesied that President Buhari would win the 2015 elections,” the APC said in a statement by Osita Okechukwu, Spokesperson of its South-East caucus.

“Even the church did not spare him; he was called unprintable names, yet his prophecy came true,” the party claimed in a statement.

Reacting, Madu said “such frivolities ‎have nothing to do with the posting.”

“His posting should have been a privilege, not a punishment – which the Bishop can do because he has the power.

“If he (Mbaka) says it’s a punishment, then it’s open for further investigation. Posting is a regular thing, a priest can be transferred after two, three, four, or more years, it depends on the discretion of the Bishop.

“That ministry (Adoration Ministry) is his private ministry, it does not belong to the church. Overseeing a parish is a full time job. Overseeing a ministry is a bigger task. If the church decides to take him somewhere where he’ll have more time to carry out his ministry, how is it punitive? That should not be the language.”

“He is supposed to be a missionary. “What if the Bishop had closed down the ministry‎, which is within his power to do? Sometimes, transfers can be for the good of the priest as something can be going wrong which he might not be aware of. The Bishop is free to move any priest at any time, it is his prerogative,” he explained.

Source: Premium Times

A primary school teacher identified as Evi Iwah,  pictured above, has narrated how some robbers attacked her, took her ATM card and cleared her account in the early hours of Saturday January 30th.

She narrated her story to The Nation.

“It happened a few minutes to 6.00am; I’d boarded a bus supposedly to Oshodi from Obanikoro. No sooner had the bus moved than they sprang into action. The first thing they did was grab my phone; ‘What do you do? Where are you coming from?’one of them asked.

I was hopeful that they’d take pity on me, having told them I was just a primary school teacher.

Why bother to ask if it meant nothing to them? After rummaging through my wallet, they found two ATM cards and some cash. The question that followed hit me with a bang. ‘What’s your pin number?’ Instinctively, I hesitated for a while, but a resounding slap on my face soon got me spilling it out. These guys were actually going to do the unimaginable. They were going to clear my account.

To think that I was about experiencing stories that had seemed far away. I looked up in time to see another member of the gang, sitting in the front seat. They called him officer. I don’t know if he was some military officer or if the name was just a code name. Even though I was still a little dazed from the slap, I couldn’t but notice the gun that hung loosely in the man’s hand, as he spoke to his colleague.

He quickly handed the ATM cards to another member who played the role of a bus conductor. The driver slowed down at my inquisitor’s command, and the bus conductor jumped off the bus on his way to emptying my accounts. I silently wished I had payed the money into my friend’s account, he had asked me to do so to avoid spending it, since I’m saving towards paying my rent.

Meanwhile, while we awaited the arrival of the messenger, the bus kept going round and round. In the process, the two women I met on the bus were told to disembark, and two others, a guy and his girlfriend were picked up at the next stop. They were lucky, as they didn’t have any ATM card on them.

They were ripped of their phones and the only one thousand Naira note the guy had on him. They had also searched the lady who came on at the same time as I did. Obviously they didn’t get much from her. I was their sacrificial lamb. Soon my phone beeped – an indication that the money had been withdrawn.

Then they drove back to the spot where they had dropped off the bus conductor, picked him up and drove off. By all means, it was a smooth operation, and we were home-bound now. I silently prayed that they dropped me off at a safe place.

All along, I didn’t know where we were because I had been sitting on the floor of the bus. Suddenly, the bus pulled to a stop and we were all told to alight. I discovered that they had dropped us at the toll-gate.

My inquisitor who had promised to give me transport money to take me home had either forgotten or couldn’t care less. They zoomed off as soon as we were all out of the bus. I stood there thinking of how to get to my place in Gbagada, until one good Nigerian who happened to be passing by came to my rescue by giving me N100, my exact fare home.”

she said.