The Anglican Bishop of Mbamili Diocese, Rt. Rev. Henry Okeke, has alleged threat to his life and that of other clergies in the Cathedral Church of St. Michael’s, Umuikwu Anam, Anambra West Local Government Area of the state

This is coming on the heels of an attack of the church by gunmen on Tuesday night.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Okeke said he had sent an SOS message to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu, informing him of the incident.

He said: “There were shootings on Tuesday by hoodlums who stormed the church to pull down the Cathedral building of Diocese of Mbamili.”

Going down memory lane, he said that the attackers who he noted were indigenes of Umuikwu Anam in 2018 had kicked against his decision to build fence around the cathedral as well as the construction of the Cathedral building.

His words: “The miscreants pulled it down twice and prevented us from fencing the cathedral.

“The land belongs to the church with well-gazetted documents but we do not understand why these miscreants are preventing us from carrying out our projects.

“About 10:00pm yesterday (Tuesday) we started hearing gunshots while they were pulling down the Cathedral building.

“They were threatening and shouting that anybody including the bishop who comes out will be shot.

“They have done so many things to threaten lives here but God has been keeping us.”

While saying that he had written to the governor as well as the Assistant Inspector General of Police in Umuahia on the matter, he added: “We do not want to take laws into our hands or resort to self-help. In fact, the youths of our church are very obedient. If it is in other places, you would have been hearing something else.”

In his reaction, the traditional ruler of the community, Igwe Ben Onyeke, regretted the actions of some hoodlums in the community saying that the portion of the land in question belongs to the church.

When contacted on the telephone, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Haruna Mohammed, said he was not in the know of the development.

He urged the bishop to reach out to the state Commissioner of Police, CP John Abang, and acquaint him of the issue.

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