Death Threat: Enugu Bishops Meet Mbaka Today

The Catholic Diocese of Enugu, which oversees the
Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka-led Adoration Ministry, has
said it will meet with the cleric today to investigate his
claim that President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife,
Patience, want him dead. This is as the Catholic
Secretariat of Nigeria on Saturday said Rev. Fr.
Mbaka, had yet to report to the said allegations to it.
Mbaka, who has repeatedly stated his opposition to the
President’s re-election, had alleged during a sermon he
delivered in his church, as seen in a recent video
uploaded on YouTube last Sunday that President
Jonathan and his wife want to kill him.
The controversial cleric had said:
“Let me say to the whole world that President
Jonathan and his wife, Patience, are planning to
assassinate Father Mbaka. It is a known secret,
so whoever they want to use, I don’t know. They
may not come themselves. They may use these
unemployed people, the same people I am speaking
for. I don’t know why people no longer have the
fear of God. Do they think that killing Father
Mbaka will make Jonathan and his wife win the
election? Is Mbaka their problem?
In an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH on
Saturday, a representative of the diocese, who
declined to have his name in print, said investigations
are ongoing to determine the legitimacy of Mbaka’s
threat.
“We have had a meeting concerning the claim he
made and we are doing something about it. We
have to call him and he has to explain. We are
going to have a meeting with him tomorrow
(Sunday), after mass,” the representative said.
When asked if the diocese had made a report of the
threat to the Inspector General of Police, the source
said the Catholic body would take a decision based on
its findings.
“It is after our meeting that we can take further
action.”
On the Vatican’s involvement in the matter, the source
added:
“What has the Vatican got to do with that? It
is a local issue and the bishop is handling it. It has
not reached the international level. We are
handling it among ourselves. It (the threat) has not
been confirmed. So, let us wait and see.”
Meanwhile, the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria on
Saturday said Mbaka had yet to report the case to it.
The organisation said:
“Goodluck (Jonathan) may have his faults but we
don’t see him as a killer.”