The perceived supremacy battle between two charismatic Roman Catholic priests, Rev. Ejike Mbaka of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Nigeria, and Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Obinma of Adoration Ministry, Uke, Anambra State is far from over.
The battle which now borders about the pro-Biafra agitation got messier on Sunday with a stern warning coming from Mbaka’s parishioners.
Obinma, popularly known as ‘Ebube Muo Nso’ had reportedly fired the first salvo, accusing Mbaka of being fake and being less popular than Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
He was quoted as saying “Nnamdi Kanu is more important to Igbos and more prophetic than Mbaka.
“At least, he Nnamdi Kanu foresaw what is happening now while Mbaka was busy then campaigning for APC, now that APC has failed, Mbaka has not condemned the same APC party that he campaigned for, let the will of God be done and let Mbaka go to rest.”
The fiery Enugu priest, Mbaka has kept mute and refused to reply to any of his fellow cleric’s verbal attack against him.
However, his parishioners at a solidarity march for him in Enugu, urged theCatholic Bishop of Onitsha Diocese to tame what they termed “the chronic excesses and manhunt of Fr. Mbaka by Fr Emmanuel Obinma of the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry Ukeh, Anambra State.”
The group stated that they had waited for Obinma to deny the above media report credited to him but that his silence amounted to his acceptance that those were his very assertions.
Speaking on behalf of the protesting parishioners, Mr. Sam Ukam said, “Obinma’s above statement is not only mischievous and malicious but was borne out of his chronic jealousy for Fr Mbaka and his deliberate calculation to incite Ndi Igbo against Fr Mbaka.
“He is merely playing to the gallery to give the false impression that he loves Nnamdi Nkanu and that Fr. Mbaka hates him or that he (Obinma) loves Igbo people more than Fr Mbaka.
“Obinma’s unguarded utterances cannot blindfold the Igbo nation from the reality of Fr Mbaka’s love for them evident in Fr Mbaka’s direct employment of over seven thousand Igbo indigenes, not to talk of the multitude of Igbo indigenes who indirectly depend on him and his product for their daily living.
“The number of indigent Igbo indigenes under Fr Mbaka’s scholarship both within and outside the country and the uncountable number of indigent Igbo patients whose medical bills are being offset by Fr Mbaka, all speak volumes of Fr Mbaka’s love for Ndi Igbo. It is for this reason that we think that that Obinma doesn’t deserve the honour of Fr Mbaka’s reply to his careless statements.”
He added that “Mbaka has demonstrated unequalled love and care for the Igbo nation in his twenty years standing as a priest and we wonder how Obinma, a priest of just about four years counting could have the effrontery to think he can manipulate any right thinking Igbo indigene into believing that he loves Ndi Igbo more than Fr Mbaka. We consider Fr Obimma’s statement as insulting to Fr Mbaka and demand unreserved apology from him to Fr Mbaka.”
Another parishioner, Mr. Chimezie Agbo who claimed he started following Fr. Mbaka right from the beginning of his ministry said, “Obinma’s mission as clearly evident in his mode of operations has always been targeted towards eliminating Fr Mbaka.
“First, Obimma named his prayer ministry at Ukeh ‘Adoration Ministry’ in a bid to deceive people into thinking that it is one and the same with Fr Mbaka’s Adoration Ministry which started decades of years ago. This was the very first crafty strategy Obimma used and is still using in converting and diverting things meant for Fr Mbaka’s Adoration Ministry to Obinma’s Adoration Ministry.
“In our knowledge of history of Catholic ministries in Nigeria, no two ministries in Catholic church answer the same name. When Fr Emmanuel Edeh started his ministry, he christened it ‘Catholic Prayer Ministry of the Holy Spirit Elele’ and no other ministry here goes by that name. When Late Fr Njoku Started his ministry he named it Upper Room Ministry and no other ministry in the Catholic Church goes by that name. Rev Fr Basil Gbuzue named his ministry Mountain of Solution catholic ministry. Rev Fr Anthony Ozele’s ministry is named Catholic World Evangelical Outreach and no other catholic ministry goes by that name. As if stealing the name of Fr Mbaka’s ‘Adoration Ministry’ was not enough, Obinma also proceeded to steal the name “Ebube Mounso” from Fr Mbaka. ‘Ebube Muo Nso’ ( Shekinah Glory) is the title of one of Fr Mbaka’s popular musical album released in the year 2000 (Seventeen Years ago)and which won a national musical award in Nigeria. Fr Obinma adopted that name ‘Ebube Muo Nso’ as his alia to ride on its popularity and in a bid to deceive people into believing that he has so much to do with Fr Mbaka and his Adoration Ministry”.
The parishioners stated that Obinma “is not only fake but also a copycat devoid of any atom of originality. Obinma is the one who masterminded and sponsored the popular musical video ‘Mbaka Why’ which was released in 2015 to run down Fr Mbaka and his prophesy of President Buhari’s victory in 2015.
“We have hard evidence of Obinma’s involvement in the said musical video and we are ready to confront him with it if he denies it. Also, if anything should happen to Fr Mbaka today, Obinma should be held responsible going by his antecedents, utterances and overt acts.
“It is a common knowledge that Obinma prophesied victory for Goodluck Jonathan and PDP in 2015 presidential election at his ‘Adoration Ministry’ at Ukeh Anambra State.
“Instead of burying his face in shame as a false prophet (which Buhari’s Victory proved him to be), Obinma now want to save his face by asserting that ‘Mbaka was busy campaigning for APC, and now that APC has failed , Mbaka has not condemned the same APC party that he campaigned for’.
“It is a pity that while Obinma still wallows in the myopia of his affiliation and cleavage to political parties, Fr Mbaka and Adoration ministry Enugu thrives in a realm of Holy Spirit devoid of any political party affiliations. Fr Mbaka focuses on good personalities and not the party they come from.
“That is why today in Adoration ministry Enugu, good leaders and office holders from APC, PDP, APGA and any other political party in Nigeria do come to worship in the Adoration ministry Enugu and are well received by Fr Mbaka and the ministry.
“At the time Fr Mbaka prophesied the victory of President Buhari, he had neither met nor had any contact with Buhari nor did he so prophesy merely because Buhari was an APC presidential candidate. This should be a clear message to the ilk of Obinma that Fr Mbaka’s has no affiliation to any political party.
“It is self evident that Obinma in his statement is the one who set for himself the comparison of who is more important to Igbos between Nnamdi Kanu and Fr Mbaka and who is more prophetic between them. By that censorious and unnecessary comparison, Obinma has in his own words out counted himself from the list of important Igbos and list of prophets.
“We don’t know of any Igbo leader in recent time, that has imparted even half as much as Fr Mbaka has done on the lives of Ndigbo both materially and spiritually. Where was Obinma when Fr Mbaka was the only lone voice demanding justice for the Igbo youths whose dead bodies were found at Ezu River in Anambra and Igbo youths held in detention during the past regime?
“Besides condemning the killings in Uzo Uwani, Enugu, by alleged Fulani herdsmen, Fr Mbaka did send relief material to the victims of that attack at Uzouwani in practical demonstration of his genuine love and concern for the people; no one heard a word from Obinma then. If Obinma was silent because the Uzo uwani massacre was an Enugu affair, does that not betray his acclaimed love for the Igbos in general? What has Obinma said about the recent Ozubulu Massacre that took place in Church at his own state, Anambra? Or was that one also another Enugu affair or another massacre by Hausa Fulani herdsmen?
“For Obinma to say that Fr Mbaka is only gossiping and down casting the work of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra is mischievous of Obinma who knows that Fr Mbaka speaks as the Holy Spirit gives him utterance and he is too committed to works of miracles God is using him to perform in the lives of people both within and outside Nigeria that he has no time for idle gossip or castigation of any one.
“We wonder even how Fr Obinma managed to wangle his way into the sacred Order of priesthood and we stand to question his calling into the priestly ministry”, the group said.
They claimed that they knew Obinma’s questionable life styles in his seminary days,m threatening to expose him the next time he would raise his voice against Fr Mbaka.
They cautioned that “he who lives in a glass house should not throw stones.
“We have never heard Fr Mbaka speak ill or attack any man of God or even mention their names in a castigating manner in his ministry and we wonder why some acclaimed men of God who are bereft of what to preach to their congregation should make Fr Mbaka the title of their sermon and foment avoidable troubles in the House of God.
“We are sending a strong warning to the Bishops and the hierarchy of Catholic Church to caution Fr Obimma to leave Fr Mbaka alone else the Holy Spirit and anointing that Fr Mbaka carries will mess him up.”
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