An attempt by Mgbalukwu people in Ebonyi State’s Izzi Local Government Area to seek God’s face over claimed calamities and stagnation has turned disastrous.
Five individuals have been hospitalized as a result of bullet wounds caused by unidentified gunmen during a crusade organized in the region by a man of God known as Prophet Okunerere.
Onome Onovewakpoyeya, the spokesperson for the Ebonyi State Police Command, did not return calls seeking confirmation of the incident. In addition, the State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Scamb Nwokolo, declined to comment on the matter, claiming that he had not received a complaint about the heinous incident. However, the Ebonyi State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) was said to be looking into the situation.
According to Saturday Sun, Paul Nwite, Mgbage Friday, Ominyi Mathias, Angelina Onwoshi, and Onuvu Ukamaka were injured after suspected assailants invaded the Onwonwiya market square in Mgbalukwu Community and sprayed gunshots on the congregants on September 10, 2023. Before they were attacked, Christian believers at the religious program stated that they were not concerned about any problems. Three casualties were transferred to Sudan Mission Hospital in Iboko, the Council’s headquarters, for treatment, while two more with serious cases were referred to the Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki (AE-FETHA).
The incident was allegedly masterminded by a cleric from Mgbalukwu community (names withheld) in response to his complaint that a man of God from another village, Ndieoke Inyimagu in the same council area, was brought for the crusade instead of an indigenous minister. Village Chairman, Monday Nkwegu, told the reporter that the decision to hire Prophet Okunerere for the crusade was made by the community’s stakeholders.
He also revealed that members of the community contributed financially to the program’s success. Nkwegu, on the other hand, expressed surprise that on the second day of the crusade, five gunmen invaded the location on a tricycle, attacked worshipers, and disrupted the event.
“Everywhere was peaceful before the program, and no one objected to the idea of holding the crusade for the sake of planning, but while everyone was busy praying, the men began shooting at us for no apparent reason.” “We discovered five of our brothers and sisters had been wounded after some people fled for their lives,” he explained.
Augustine Ede, the leader of the local vigilante organization, revealed that the strange movement of the attackers on their tricycle piqued his men’s interest. The security team promptly halted them at the event venue, unaware that the people were on a malicious errand.
Nwite, one of the wounded, informed a reporter at the hospital that the gunman accelerated rapidly, almost injuring several of the worshipers. The vigilante guys who approached them for identification were startled, but the intruders quickly opened fire on the innocent worshippers.
Another member of the vigilante group, Mgbage Friday, who also suffered bullet wounds, stated in his statement that his squad was trying to find out from the people at the barrier in the market place, the location of the crusade, but a heated disagreement ensued between the two groups. Friday described the incident: “As vigilante members, we stopped the people to know where they were going at that period of the night between 8:30 and 9:00pm but instead of them to identify themselves, they rather opened fire on us and along the line, shot at my two thighs.”
Another resident, who did not want to be identified, pointed to a pastor in the region who, according to him, was unhappy with the villagers’ decision to bring the prophet from another location.
“The attack was the result of envy on the part of one of us, who is also a pastor.” “The so-called man of God wants to stop the crusade, and in the end, he achieved his nefarious act after wreaking havoc on his own people,” he lamented.
According to Saturday Sun, Nwite and two other affected individuals were discharged from Sudan Mission Hospital, Iboko after treatment but were held back due to their incapacity to pay the N213, 190 medical bill. The hospital’s administration required that the trio pay the hospital cost.
The Sun