|
New Page 1
Okija: Chief priests invoke spirits against raiders
•Ngige denies involvement
FELIX UKA, Awka
CHIEF priests of various shrines in
the South-East said yesterday morning that those who raided the Ogwugwu
Okija shrines should appease the deity or suffer impending doom.
They also kicked off a seven-day fast and one-hour a day
incantation to protest the defilement of the Ogwugwu enclaves in Ihiala
council area of Anambra State.
Also, the state government has denied
claims that Gov. Chris Ngige was behind the raid on the shrines to cover up an
alleged past involvement there, saying it was false.
The government instead said it is awaiting
a police report at the end of its investigation.
Spokesman of the Anambra State chapter of
the League of Chief Priests in the South-East, Chief Onuchukwu James Clark, told
newsmen in Awka, that shrines are no hide-outs for evildoers, but places of
worship of traditional religion, saying the present controversy over the Okija
shrines was unnecessary.
The fasting and incantations would be
simultaneous in all the shrines in the South-East, Clark said.
He alleged that Mr. Chukwuemezie Obed Igwe,
who petitioned the police over the Okija shrines, runs the "Lord Symbad Temple
at Amuwo-Odofin in Lagos State.
"He has a shrine in Lagos where he
allegedly does all manner of things, yet, it doesn’t mean that shrines are
hide-out for evil doers; it’s a place of peace and worship. If the police invite
me, I will take them to his (Igwe’s) house, he is not a born-again, he also
worships Ogwugwu shrine," he alleged.
The chief priest said "let the police go
to Lord Symbad Temple at Amuwo-Odofin in Lagos State and find out what he does
there."
He urged those involved in the Ogwugwu
Okija raid to immediately appease the goddess of Ogwugwu to avert impending
doom.
Clark listed other shrines in Anambra
State as Iyioji Odekpe of Ogbaru, Habba of Agulu, Ogwugwu Akpo
Ozubulu, Edo Nnewi, saying that across the country such shrines exist
even in greater abundance.
He said the shrines are altars where
believers of the deities invoke spirits to fight for them.
Clark noted that traditional religion is
not unconstitutional, contending that destruction of the Okija shrines is in
breach of the freedom of worship by those who believe in the deities; but
pointed out that ritual killing is not part of traditional religious practice.
Another Chief Priest, Chief Donatus
Obiogbolu Abajui of Iheneri-Umuhu-Ihe shrine in Okija, told Daily
Champion on telephone that his hands are clean of ritual accusations.
"My hands are clean and I must tell you
that what the police did was injustice. Mine shrine is for the protection of the
less privileged in the society. I stand for justice and that is all," he said.
Senior Special Assistant on Media and
Publicity to the Anambra Governor, Mr. Fred Chukwuelobe, told Daily Champion
that those behind the rumour that Gov. Ngige instigated the raid on the shrines
were lying.
"We are aware that some enemies of the
governor can go to any length to tarnish his image, including dragging his name
into the Okija shrine debacle," Chukwuelobe said.
"But the governor is not bothered. He has
made it clear that he never went into that shrine. When as an aspirant they
forced him to go there, he refused to enter, he stayed in his car with his Bible
and holy water in his hand," the aide stated.
He noted that "even as we speak, the
governor doesn’t know how the shrine looks like, all that they are saying is
false, malicious and a calculated attempt to tarnish is good image."
"The governor is a Christian and had never
and will never have anything to do with shrine. So, he didn’t pay anybody to
give information to the police regarding the shrine," he added.
On the feeling of the state government over such
development in its domain, he stated that "the government is watching; the
police is operating within the armpits of law. So, what government is expecting
is report that will arise from the police investigation."
|
