By CHARLES IWUOHA

The General Overseer of Champion Cathedral, Abakaliki, Professor Bishop Sam Onyeagoziri Ndubueze, has alleged that members of an occultic group from his community are behind a campaign of blackmail and intimidation against him, following his public condemnation of their activities.

Speaking with newsmen in Abakaliki, Bishop Ndubueze said trouble began after he criticized the Omabe masquerade on his community?s WhatsApp platform.

According to him, members of the group began threatening to ?deal with? him soon after his post went viral.

He explained that on September 1, 2025, his phones were stolen in Abakaliki. Initially, he said, he did not connect the theft to the threats.

?I reported first to the Onicha Development Union chairman, Chief Engineer Chijioke Ikeagwu, who helped me block my accounts. The following day, I went to the Crack Department of the Nigeria Police, Ebonyi State Command, and officially documented my complaint,? he said.

Bishop Ndubueze alleged that shortly after his report, he received a phone call from unknown persons demanding N10 million to suppress damaging information they claimed to have about him.

?They told me if I didn?t comply, they would send me packing from Abakaliki because of my stand against their masquerade. When I tried to trace the number, it turned out to be an unregistered line,? he added.

The cleric further revealed that not long after the threats, doctored nude photographs allegedly involving him began circulating on WhatsApp and Facebook.

He said the images were manipulated using artificial intelligence technology.

?Those pictures were taken from my traditional wedding thanksgiving years ago. They used my face from that event to fabricate something entirely false,? he insisted.

Clarifying the source of some of the photos on his stolen phone, Bishop Ndubueze explained that they involved a young woman, now 26, who once lived with him. According to him, the lady had been a victim of sexual harassment by a group of boys who threatened to publicize her pictures.

?She sent those pictures to me for safekeeping. None of her nude pictures had me by her side. What?s trending online is a manipulation ? they only merged my image from the chest upwards with hers,? he stated.

The cleric called on security agencies to investigate the matter thoroughly and bring the perpetrators to justice.

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