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Archbishop Dares Okorocha: Your son-in-Law Can’t Be Imo Governor
The Archbishop of Owerri Catholic Archdiocese, His Grace, Anthony Obinna, on Saturday had a brush with supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State for daring to condemn the apportioning of political offices to the family members and allies of Governor Rochas Okorocha.
The Archbishop was admonishing the congregation at the St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Ngwoma in Owerri North council area during the requiem mass for the mother of Mr. Alex Mbata. Obinna had, metaphorically told Chief Uche Nwosu, the Chief of Staff to Governor Okorocha, Mrs. Nkechi Okorocha, the Imo First Lady, and all others at the service that the state needed a seasoned administrator democratically elected and not a handpicked successor as likened to the governor’s son-in-law.
“It is like civilian dictatorship which is unacceptable. Not the governor, not his deputy, not even me can handpick and determine who governs Imo without recourse to the will and votes of Imo people,” the Archbishop said. Obinna urged the members of the congregation to endeavour to get their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and deploy them appropriately in 2019. Nwosu is married to Okorocha’s first daughter.
The Archbishop condemned the recent apportioning of positions to loyalists by Okorocha who had endorsed Nwosu as governor, announced his deputy, Prince Eze Madumere, for Senate and Commissioner for Information, Prof. Nnamdi Obiaraeri, for Senate; while Ozuruigbo Ugonna and Deacon Chike Okafor would go for House of Representatives.
But Okorocha yesterday said God has endorsed his son-in-law and that it was futile antagonizing him. Okorocha said: “This time, it is Uche Nwosu because they have seen that he is the man for 2019 with God on our side. And no amount of blackmail or tricks would change the plan of God on the young man to govern the state.
“It takes someone alive in the things of the Spirit to know that Uche Nwosu is a “child” of destiny. He has the divine mark. And anyone fighting him is fighting his God. And no one can battle with God.”
On his part, Nwosu said that power belongs to the people and only the people of Imo State can determine who governs them.
Trouble started when Obinna was lamenting the dilapidation of roads and infrastructure in the area and the increasing level of poverty and hunger in Imo State. An appointee of the governor from Oru West council area, Chief Chris Ekwueme, shouted that Governor Okorocha was working and doing his best.
Ekwueme was invited to the podium and was given the microphone. The APC stalwart stated that Okorocha was working and cannot finish all the developmental works in Imo in his tenure, noting that the concern of the Archbishop will be addressed. Another member of the congregation, who apparently was not sympathetic to APC, dashed off to the podium and requested to speak and was also given the microphone after Archbishop Obinna, who was sceptical about his intentions had quizzed him in low tones.
The man lamented that the APC government in Imo State is a tragedy which has continued to inflict pain and poverty on the people of the state.
He stressed that nothing under the Okorocha administration is working or functioning in the real sense of it as issues are driven by more of propaganda than truth. He called on the people to demand for change in government come 2019 and use their PVCs wisely. Angered by the man’s submission, APC followers started jeering and shouting in the church. Thereafter, it degenerated to raining insults on the Archbishop, forcing him to end his admonition.
The Archbishop handed over the microphone to the Monsignor as the APC supporters thronged out to the front and turned the church into a rowdy session. Priests and church workers formed a wall around the vestry with most of the young priests ready to defend themselves if the APC supporters breached the altar, but they didn’t. While the bedlam continued, the First Lady, Mrs. Okorocha, and Nwosu were still in the church and watched on.
The speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Chief Acho Ihim; the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Paschal Nnadi, and many commissioners were also in the church. An eyewitness, Rev. Fr. Chika Opara noted that it was not the first time Okorocha’s men were bringing thuggery to the church.
“This was exactly what they did in 2015 when the Catholic Church organised a debate for governorship aspirants in the state. When things were not going their way, they sent in their thugs, attacked the organisers and destroyed the podium for the debate,” the cleric said. Reacting to the incident, the Association of Catholic Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (ACMPN) condemned the harassment of the Archbishop.
“These dastardly acts have become frequent occurrences in the current administration against leading religious leaders, human rights activists and social critics. The present event goes further to underscore that in Imo State under the current administration of Owelle Rochas Okorocha, there is suspension of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion as enshrined in Sections 38 and 39 of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria,” ACMPN said in a statement by its chairman, Dr. Philip Njemanze.
A former House of Representatives’ member and onetime aide to Okorocha, Hon. Uche Onyeagucha, condemned the attack on the church. He said: “It is high time Okorocha called himself and his supporters to order. I understand Okorocha’s desperation to run for a third term, riding on the back of his son in-law, but there must be a limit to this madness. Priests are entitled to their sermons from the altar to the church. Imo State has not and cannot be allowed to degenerate to government dictating sermons for men of God.”
In his statement, the governor’s spokesman, Sam Onwuemeodo, said Nwosu is being blackmailed. “We say this for posterity sake. Imo people, including youths, students, men and women have thrown their unalloyed support behind the youthful Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu, for the 2019 governorship in the state. He has become the subject matter as long as that issue is concerned, with APC officials and leaders from 24 out of the 27 local governments in the state having already endorsed him for the 2019 Imo guber poll.
“Now seeing Uche Nwosu as the guy to beat in the 2019 election, they now think that there is no other way to stop him than through unwarranted blackmail. That is the reason, such a quintessential gentleman and an embodiment of decency should be associated with whatever that transpired at the event in question,” Okorocha’s spokesman said.
The media aide to the Chief of Staff, Mr. Chikezie Nwadike, told our correspondent that APC members were not to be blamed for the disruption of the church service. Nwadike said: “It was the PDP member who started campaigning in the church that caused the uproar. He was insensitive to the point that he was asking people to vote against the state government in a church service where people were mourning their late mother.”
The Owerri Archdiocesan Director of Media and Communication, Fr. George Nwachukwu, however, said that the church has left the assault on the Archbishop and the church in the hands of God.
He said: “The Archbishop and the archdiocese have decided to take no action against the APC members who assaulted the church. “We have taken the assault on the archbishop the same way Jesus was insulted, assaulted and humiliated on the cross of Calvary. “The assault on the church and the archbishop was very painful, provoking and highly unwarranted, but we have resolved to leave it in the hands of God.”
Source: from New Telegraph.
News
‘If You Want It Dirty, You’ll Get It Dirty’, Benue Diaspora DG Escalates Threat Against National Record Reporter
By Our Reporter
The Editor-in-Chief of National Record, Iduh L. Onah, has raised alarm over what he described as ‘grave threats’ issued against one of the online newspaper’s reporters, Mr. Amos Aar, by the Director-General of the Benue State Directorate of Diaspora Linkages and Investments, Professor Abraham Tartenger Girgih.
In a letter dated June 25, 2025, addressed to Prof. Girgih and made available to the press, National Record condemned what it called “unwarranted threats” following the publication of a report on the funding challenges being faced by the Directorate under the DG’s leadership since its formation in 2024.
According to Onah, while the publication welcomes robust engagement in the form of rejoinders on stories perceived to contain among other things misinformation, misrepresentation or distortion, no one has the right to issue threats.
“While it is within your right to respond to perceived misinformation or misrepresentation and distortion or outright fabrication, in any publication, it is, however, beyond that right to issue a threat as grave as “dire consequences”, Onah stated.
The Editor-in-Chief further noted that the situation escalated after the publication of a follow-up report when Prof. Girgih called the correspondent and made what the paper considers to be a further threat.
“After the publication of the threat and other claims in your rejoinder, you again went ahead to issue what we deemed to be further grave threat when you stated: “…if you want it dirty, you will get it dirty”, among other words perceived as veiled threat, in a telephone conversation you had with our correspondent shortly after you may have read our follow-up report,” stated the Editor-in-Chief.
The management of National Record expressed deep concern for the safety of its correspondent and other staff, especially given the hostile tone of Prof. Girgih in his conversation with the reporter.
The media organization said it is taking steps to notify security agencies, the Benue State Government, and professional journalism bodies about the threats, while also demanding a written assurance from Prof. Girgih that no harm will befall Mr. Aar or any member of the newspaper’s staff.
“We demand from you a written assurance of Mr Aar’s safety from harm and that of our other staff, and a further commitment to desist from harassing, heckling, intimidating or bullying us in whatever manner,” Onah wrote.
While no official response had been received from Prof. Girgih as at press time, National Record expressed hope for civility going forward and reiterated its commitment to its constitutional mandate as a stakeholder in the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
The letter reads in full:
Professor Abaham Tartenger Girgih
The Director-General
Directorate of Diaspora Linkages and investments
Makurdi, Benue State.
Dear Prof. Girgih;
THREATS ON OUR PERSONNEL AND ORGANISATION
On behalf of the Management of Contest Communications Limited, publishers of National Record, I bring you warm fraternal greetings.
We wish to express our dismay and concern over your threat on our Benue State Correspondent, Mr Amos Aar, in particular, and generally, our entire organisation, as contained in your rejoinder to a report we had published on challenges being faced by the agency which you head.
While it is within your right to respond to perceived misinformation or misrepresentation and distortion or outright fabrication, in any publication, it is, however, beyond that right to issue a threat as grave as “dire consequences”.
After the publication of the threat and other claims in your rejoinder, you again went ahead to issue what we deemed to be further grave threat when you stated: “…if you want it dirty, you will get it dirty”, among other words perceived as veiled threat, in a telephone conversation you had with our correspondent shortly after you may have read our follow-up report.
While we intend to take steps to formally note these threats before the appropriate security agencies, the Benue State Government under which you are serving, as well as our professional organisations nationally; we wish to inform you that the life of our Benue State Correspondent, Amos Aar, and our entire personnel, remains insecure in the context of your threats.
In that regard, we demand from you a written assurance of Mr Aar’s safety from harm and that of our other staff, and a further commitment to desist from harassing, heckling, intimidating or bullying us in whatever manner from carrying out our constitutional mandate as key stakeholders in the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
As we look forward to relating with you in formal, civilised manner, and prompt action on our demands, please, accept the assurances of our esteemed regards.
Iduh L. Onah
Editor-in-Chief
National Record (https://nationalrecord.com.ng)
The Enugu State government has inaugurated a steering committee to eliminate Gender-Based Violence, GBV, in the state, declaring zero tolerance for the social malaise.
The inauguration took place at the Government House Enugu.
The panel, which is chaired by the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, draws its membership from the Nigeria Police Force, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro Industrialisation, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ministry of Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education as well as the Civil Society.
Inaugurating the panel known as the Steering Committee for Strengthening Institutional and Community Responses to End Gender-Based Violence/Domestication of Enugu State Gender Policy using the Oputa Panel approach, Governor Peter Mbah restated his administration’s commitment to not bringing perpetrators of GBV to book, but also putting in place proactive measures – activities, infrastructure, and systems in place to prevent them.
Mbah, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said, “We take gender-based violence seriously. We have zero tolerance for it, and in Enugu State, we are ready to go the extra mile to deal with it.
“If you notice, the government has selected people that are very committed to this goal. This is not an activity where we just want to check-off the list. We will track this. We will monitor this, and we will have quarterly engagements on the successes that this particular committee has achieved in terms of reference that we are going to send.
“We will tighten those terms of reference indicators, so that we monitor what we are doing both in terms of cost input and the value added. It’s very important to us. Many people will be involved – civil society, the police and various ministries.”
He however, said that the effort was to protect everyone, men and women alike, as GBV was not restricted to any gender.
“The whole idea is to hold people responsible that are involved in matters relating to gender violence and deter people that by culture or by association get involved in that, protect women, protect our children, and in the case of violence against men, protect our men because most times we misconstrue gender violence to mean women, but it can also be men too.
“We encourage our men to speak out and to make sure they understand that the policy that Enugu State is soon going to domesticate is for everyone, and not only for the female gender,” he stated.
In her remark, Mrs. Enih, explained that the Oputa Panel approach was inspired by the need to cover all local peculiarities in domesticating the policy on GBV, restarting government’s confidence in the members of the panel.
“The approach we are going to use is the Oputa Panel approach, and in the Oputa Panel approach, we are going to tour the 17 Local Government Areas to get firsthand information about what our people are going through because policy is meant for the people, and a policy should suit the people.
“Again, every community has its peculiar problems, so that’s why the government decided that if we have to domesticate the gender policy, we have to hear from the people who own the policy and know the changes that they desire to see. That is the reason we are using this approach.
“The committee members are to also serve as judges. As we gather this information from our people, we will come back to tailor it in a way to suit the people of Enugu State, and then our policy is ready.
“We want the people to know that there is a gender policy for them. I can assure you that when the people are aware that there is such a policy, they will seek for the enforcement of that policy. So, this is not going to be one of those policies that will just lie on the shelf,” she said.
Digital solutions provider, Globacom, has congratulated Christians in Nigeria on this year’s Easter celebration, and urged them to emulate the noble qualities of Jesus Christ.
The company, in a goodwill message to the Christian faithful in the country, lauded their perseverance through the Lenten period which preceded Easter. It enjoined them to always promote the ideals of selflessness, love and peace among all as a way of demonstrating the virtues of the exemplary life of Jesus Christ.
“Peace, love and sacrifice are the central message of Easter. Christ offered himself in atonement for the sins of the world and he lived a life which made Him an eternal symbol of peace and goodwill for mankind”, Globacom added.
The company enjoined all Nigerians to share in the lessons of promoting selflessness, a necessary ingredient in the growth and development of every society. It also enjoined all Nigerians to join hands to make Nigeria a better place for all.
Easter is celebrated yearly at the end of the Lenten season of fasting and prayer considered as a ritual of purification for the Christian faithful. It also precedes the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Good Friday and His eventual resurrection on Easter Sunday.
The company assured its customers of seamless voice, data and Short Messaging Service (SMS) during and after the Easter celebrations, while urging them to avail themselves of the various data and voice offerings on the network.
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