Members of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu Nigeria, AMEN, on Sunday accused the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Rev. Calistus Onaga, of bowing to the pressures from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, over the recent transfer of Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka. Source Close to Bishop Onaga disclosed to us that the Bishop said he transferred Fr Mbaka out of pressure from Ohaneze and PDP.
“What Bishop Michael Eneja saw and allowed, Bishop Gbuji protected and watered but Bishop Onaga uprooted in a most barbaric and despondent manner. How? Sometime ago, he gave impromptu directive that the Ministry should stop the Wednesday all-night Adoration prayer, which Fr Mbaka complied with. The directive would have blown out the fire of the ministry and brought it to a painful end if not for the intervention of the Holy Spirit”, they stated.
Mbaka is the priest in charge of the Adoration Ministry, which has millions of followers drawn from various churches.
In a statement signed by Kingsley Eze, Igbo Youth Kaduna, Sunday Ukam, JP; ( Enugu Adorer) Adedije Wale (Osun State, Adorer), Barr Ike Maximus Ugwuoke, (Enugu, Adorer) and twenty others, they maintained that the transfer of Mbaka out of the Christ the King Parish GRA, Enugu, fell short of the routine transfer of priests in the diocese.
They alleged that whereas former Bishops in the diocese gave Mbaka all the support needed for the ministry to flourish, Bishop Onaga had been acting a script aimed at bringing the fiery priest down.
“Is Bishop Onaga angry that Fr Mbaka is prophesying? Was it not from the seat of the Bishop he occupies that Fr Mbaka was ordained a priest, a king and prophet? How then can the Church become worried when he begins to prophesy? Does the Church contradict itself?
“We are not happy with the manner the wind of the transfer blew and many of us feel bad about it. Fr Mbaka is holding the brake for some of us and we implore him to keep matching the brake and hold the steering firmly because all eyes are on him. He should not be discouraged.
We are behind him. Even if they post him to the moon, there we shall be with him. Where are those behind this transfer? Let them come out from their hidings so that they will compete with Fr Mbaka for us to see, in area of preaching the gospel, in prayers, in fasting or in charity.
“Some of us who are not from Enugu Diocese didn’t believe it that Fr Mbaka was transferred in this manner. The transfer is not our problem but the manner it was done.
It struck us like thunder and we have been inundated with calls from our people residing outside the country, UK, Spain, USA etc. We are dumbfounded and we can’t help asking- Is this the fight of faith that the diocese is enjoined to fight? Is this how the diocese wants to win souls? While the true lovers of the Catholic Church are thinking of how to protect Fr Mbaka as gift to the Catholic Church, his own diocese just exposed him and left him without shelter.
“Most Nigerians know that the uncommon silence of Bishop Onaga over Fr Mbaka’s prophesy of the defeat of the GoodluckJonathan’s PDP-led government by President MuhammaduBuhari was not really for nothing. He was just waiting for the time to carry out the script of the stalwarts of the overthrown party.
“Barely few weeks before the posting, the voice of a faction of the Ohanezendi Igbo, a socio-cultural group that fell out with the party was heard barking at Fr Mbaka to ‘shut up’ over his prophesies. And now comes the posting done in such a manner as to really shut Fr Mbaka up.
Source Close to Bishop Onaga disclosed to us that the Bishop said he transferred Fr Mbaka out of pressure from Ohaneze and PDP. The posting is not Holy Ghost oriented but PDPnized and Ohanezenized, and any cleric be him Pastor, Bishop or Cardinal that supported this is enemy of the Holy Spirit”, the statement read.
They equally warned the Secretary, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Raph Madu to stay out of Mbaka’s ministry, “otherwise, we shall expose his questionable life as a priest to public glare.
The statement read in full:
“FR MBAKA UNDER FIRE,” A MISFIRED MEDIA REPORT: THOSE WHO GATHER THIS STORM SHOULD BE CAREFUL!
Our attention has been drawn to the publication in the Sun Newspaper of 7th February, 2016 with the caption “Fr Mbaka under fire” which content we perceive as mendacious and unfair to Rev. Fr Ejike Mbaka, the Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Nigeria.
We wish to state that following the official release of the recent posting of priests in Enugu Diocese by the Bishop on 13th January, which indicated Fr Mbaka’s transfer from Christ the King Parish,GRA, Enugu to Our Lady of Rosary parish, Emene, and the Bishop’s directives giving all priests affected by the transfer the deadline to move into their new duty stations by 31st of January.
Fr Mbaka, in obedience to His Bishop complied, with the directive. Though it is usual for some priests to abdicate to their successors every on-going project once they are transferred, but Fr Mbaka, within the space of the two weeks grace given by the Bishop before the deadline, hastened the completion of all the projects at the Parish.
Even when it was clear that he was leaving the parish as indicated in the transfer, he still went ahead and repainted the Parish Church building and surroundings, completed the new ultra-modern school he built for the parish and refurbished the parish house to make it conducive for his successors.
On 30th January, 2016, Fr Mbaka handed over the keys to all these projects which he built personally for the parish with little or no contribution from the parishioners, to his successor and was escorted to his new duty station at Emene by thousands of Adoration worshippers and concerned Nigerians,most of who were in tears.
We note with dismay that today, nobody talks about some priests in the diocese who were unable to comply with the Bishop’s directive on the deadline given by the diocese whereas every Tom, Dick and Harry continue to make much fuss about Fr Mbaka’s transfer, with some calling on him to submit to his Bishop even when he had fully and joyfully complied with his Bishop’s directives within the specified time.
The much ado on Fr Mbaka’s statement that he is going to suffer which has elicited much attention by his critics is unnecessary. The statement was just a few words that were given media hype by his critics out of the many things he said to the worshippers during the handover to his successor.
Those who spend their energy gathering the cracks against Fr Mbaka on that statement filibustered the fact that among other things, Fr Mbaka said: “I see everything with the eyes of love and will of the Holy Spirit. I am not worried. GRA was a bush when I came here and I turned it to a city. Now I am moving into another bush to turn it into an ultra-modern city. I implore the whole Adorers not to worry and not to do anything that will bring shame to the Church. I will remain loyal and obedient to the church and this transfer will not lower my faith in God in its veracity, tenacity and magnetism. I am grateful to my Bishop.
If flies that have no bone will live in a toilet and not die, what about I who have bones? I love challenges; it is part of my life. It brings out my intuitions and raises my antenna for mega success and breakthrough. My vibe and enthusiasm are high. I am grateful to Bishop Eneja and Gbuji who left me all these years in the parish and also to Bishop Onaga for posting me out. ”
Assuming but not conceding that the only comment Fr Mbaka made during his handover was that he was going to suffer, what is wrong with that statement and why the hullabaloo over it?
In Matthew 16:21 and Luke 18:31-33did even Jesus not tell his disciples that he was going to suffer, to be handed over and be crucified? In Mark 8: 31, did Jesus not say that the Son of Man must of necessity suffer many things, tested, rejected and be put to death? In Mathew 11:12,did the Bible not say that even the Kingdom of Heaven suffered violent from the days of John the Baptist? In Heb 2: 10, did Paul not talk about perfection of salvation through suffering? In 1stPeter 5:10, did the Bible not talk about our exaltation, establishment and settlement after we have suffered a little while? In 1st Peter 1: 6, did the Bible not enjoin us to be glad thoughnow we may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations? InColossian 1:24 and Romans 5:3-5, did Paul not talk about his suffering?In 2ndCor6:4 isit not written “We commend ourselves in every way as true servants of God through great endurance, in tribulation and suffering?”
Given the assets of the ministry which Fr Mbaka was forced to pack out from the GRA parish without any preparation on how they will be preserved, is it not obvious that he was going to suffer?
Given the fact that thousands of people who flood his parish to wait for his prayers, healing and charity cannot be accommodated comfortably in two large conference rooms in the Parish duplex at GRA and now by the transfer, he is going to reside in a cubicle being his share of the Parish House at Our Lady of Rosary Parish which hewill be occupying with two other priests, is this not enough suffering?
Is it not excruciating seeing not less than 80 salaried workers under Fr Mbaka’s employment at Christ the King Parish GRA, parish shedding tears of losing their job in this era of unemployment, on account of his transfer from the parish?
We believe that most of those who attack Fr Mbaka on issue of his transfer either do not know the true facts or they are being economical with the truth.
The random handpicking of some biased clerics’ views expressed in the said newspaper publication by the collectivelaborious effort of the reporters leaves us in doubt if the report is not stage-managed to achieve a written script by those who just want to assassinate and defame Fr Mbaka’s character in the media, a trend we view with great trepidation and which we strongly advise the ministry to apply lawful remedies to redress.
We boldly stand to say that, to posit that Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal clerics are against Fr Mbaka on issue of his transfer as the content of the publication suggested, just because of the views of some tele guided clerics expressed therein, is but a mere fallacy of hasty generalization.
Bishop Anthony Gbuji who ordained Fr Mbakaa priest made it known to everyone that the evangelical role and the soul-saving mission of Fr Mbaka is why God has positioned him at the center (GRA) for easier access to all.
He saw Adoration Ministry as a magnet of souls, a place where the Holy Spirit, through Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, heals people ; a solution center and a viable alternative to those who would have run back to idol, a consolation area for the less privileged and the poor masses . No wonder the Bishop said that Adoration Ministry is a blessing to the diocese, for turning a mortuary surrounded with bushes into a manifest worshiping center. Christ the King, GRA is not just a parish but a worshiping Centre. What Bishop Michael Eneja saw and allowed, Bishop Gbuji protected and watered but Bishop Onaga uprooted in a most barbaric and despondent manner. How?
Sometime ago, he gave impromptu directive that the Ministry should stop the Wednesday all-night Adoration prayer at the ground which Fr Mbaka complied with. The directive would have blown out the fire of the ministry and brought it to a painful end if not for the intervention of the Holy Spirit.
Fr Mbaka has been sacrificing his life for the poor masses. He is an inter-religious and inter-denominational catholic priest whose love for all knows no bounds. He stands for the integral wellbeing of the poor, a great defender of the Catholic Church and her doctrines.
It is very unfortunate that people only hear the political comments which are just a second’s sneeze he makes when the poor masses are being molested, maltreated and misled by the leaders. His ministrations are 100% undiluted word of God and 99% salvific.
Is BishopOnaga angry that Fr Mbaka is prophesying? Was it not from the seat of the Bishop he occupies that Fr Mbaka was ordained a priest, a king and prophet? How then can the Church become worried when he begins to prophesy? Does the Church contradict itself?
We are not happy with the manner the wind of the transfer blew and many of us feel bad about it. Fr Mbaka is holding the brake for some of us and we implore him to keep matching the brake and hold the steering firmly because all eyes are on him.
He should not be discouraged. We are behind him. Even if they post him to the moon, there we shall be with him. Where are those behind this transfer? Let them come out from their hidings so that they will compete with Fr Mbaka for us to see, in area of preaching the gospel, in prayers, in fasting or in charity. Our consolation is that wherever Fr Mbaka is posted to God’s blessings and miracles shall go with him.
Some of us who are not from Enugu Diocese didn’t believe it that Fr Mbaka was transferred in this manner. The transfer is not our problem but the manner it was done. It struck us like thunder and we have been inundated with calls from our people residing outside the country, UK, Spain, USA etc. We are dumbfounded and we can’t help asking-
Is this the fight of faith that the diocese is enjoined to fight? Is this how the diocese wants to win souls? While the true lovers of the Catholic Church are thinking of how to protect Fr Mbaka as gift to the Catholic Church, his own diocese just exposed him and left him without shelter. No wonder some Holy Spirt inspired Bishops are suggesting that a meeting of the Bishops be called to look into this.
Most Nigerians know that the uncommon silence of Bishop Onaga over Fr Mbaka’s prophesy of the defeat of the Goodluck Jonathan’s PDP-led government by President Muhammadu Buhari was not really for nothing.
He was just waiting for the time to carry out the script of the stalwarts of the overthrown party. Barely few weeks before the posting, the voice of a faction of the Ohanezendi Igbo, a socio-cultural group that fell out with the party was heard barking at Fr Mbaka to ‘shut up’ over his prophesies.
And now comes the posting done in such a manner as to really shut Fr Mbaka up. Source Close to Bishop Onaga disclosed to us that the Bishop said he transferred Fr Mbaka out of pressure from Ohaneze and PDP.
The posting is not Holy Ghost oriented but PDPnized and Ohanezenized, and any cleric be him Pastor, Bishop or Cardinal that supported this is enemy of the Holy Spirit. How can the Bishop just wake up and tell Fr Mbaka to pack into a parish that cannot comfortably contain two priests as a third priest? Is he meant to punish him?
Is that the way the Catholic Church in the diocese is meant to reward and encourage him for the glory and honour he had brought to the Catholic Church in this part of the divide and for his unalloyed humility and total obedience to the Church? Is that the way the Church is meant to reward him for taking care of the flock of the Catholic Church both within and outside the dioceses?
We wonder if the Catholic Bishop of Enugu was aware that Adoration Ministry had assets when he carried out that posting. The equipment that are used in producing Fr Mbaka’s messages after his ministrations cannot be accommodated in four rooms, let alone other assets of the ministry worth millions of naira.
Till date some of the Ministry’s assets are still inside the Lorries that conveyed them to the Adoration ground. Where do they expect that those assets should be kept? Is it at Fr Mbaka’s cubicle inside the Emene Parish or should they be carried into the Bishop’s bedroom? Sure, the Bishop wants us to keep them under the rain or under the sun to waste and rot, otherwise, he would have considered this when he carried out the posting.
If the posting was not meant to punish us and Fr Mbaka, the Bishop and his advisers would have considered making Fr Mbaka a resident priest in GRA parish and post another priest to oversee the parish. This would have been fair enough to allow Fr Mbaka organize himself and leave the parish honourably.
Bishop Onaga and his so-called advisers are lucky that our Daddy Fr Mbaka hates anything that will desecrate the church or bring shame to the church. Onaga is just a Bishop of Enugu Diocese; he is not the owner of the diocese. The Diocese was there before he became a Bishop and will continue to be there after he must have left. We are ashamed of the jealousy and gang-ups among even some clergymen against Fr Mbaka.
They should be careful. Let none of them think that we are blind to their actions and utterances. Fr Mbaka after deforesting Christ the King Parish GRA Enugu, lifted the parish from oblivion of grade E, to Grade A of the financial level of the diocese. We are watching to see if the parish would maintain that level.
From the group of religious and priests who spoke to us under anonymity for fear of victimization by the Bishop, some of them were not happy with the Bishop. One of the priests who could not hide his love for Fr Mbaka, told us how Fr Mbaka had helped him out of a problem that neither the Bishop nor his brother-priests could offer any solution. Some of the priests are not happy with the way Fr Mbaka was treated and the manner of the transfer which showed apparently that there were elements of favoritism and hatred meted out to some priests.
To buttress this point, one of the religious told us how the Bishop relieved about six parish priests in the diocese of their parishes and replaced them with other priests. The Bishop had based the reason for his action on the premise that he would send the displaced priests abroad for further studies.
It was gathered that the relieved priests, after all hopes that they were going abroad travelled to Lagos and lo and behold, no traveling document was made available to them. This almost landed them into trouble, if not for the image of the church.
The priests returned to the diocese and became floating priests. Our source revealed that the Bishop never bordered about the welfare of those priests but Fr Mbaka adopted that responsibility of extending his charity and support for them.
A young priest of the diocese who spoke to us, expressed worry over the information management by the Bishop. According to him, “Some of us know that the Bishop and his advisers may not have been fair enough to Fr Mbaka. Even before the posting came out, some of the priests already knew where they were to be posted”.
He cited an instance with Fr Ogbuene whom he said that even before the posting it was known that he was going to Holy Ghost Cathedral. He asserted that the Bishop’s Secretary, Fr Raph Madu masterminded who was to be posted to GRA to replace Fr Mbaka and that this had been their way of settling those whom they love. He disclosed that if not that Fr Mbaka was calming down the young priests in the diocese, they would have revolted against it.
He said that even before the posting was formally announced, it was already in the newspaper that there was going to be a posting and Fr Mbaka would be posted out. According to him “I think, the posting took place on Wednesday, 13th January, but by 11th January, we read in cover page of Sun Newspaper that the Catholic Church planned to transfer Fr Mbaka. In confirmation of that report, the Director of Social Communication of the Diocese, Rev. Fr Joseph Offor was quoted as asserting that there would be posting of priests and it would be announced that week.
My worry is; if the posting was indeed transparent, why people should get to hear it even before it was released? Such announcement, to me and to some fellow concerned bother- priests raises a question as to whether that may not have given room for some priests to negotiate their transfers.
It means also that the fate of some priests may have been decided beforehand. I tell you, some priests I know are not happy with the manner of the posting as it affects not just Fr Mbaka but they themselves, though they may be afraid to speak out or better still they we are under oath not to question such”.
We also want to use this medium to sternly warn Fr Raph Madu, the Secretary Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria over his unguarded public comments against our Spiritual Director otherwise, we shall expose his questionable life as a priest to public glare.
He should learn the wisdom in the adage that he who lives in a glass house should not throw stones and keep silence. He lacks the moral rectitude as a priest to talk to Fr Mbaka and we are ready to confront him with those facts if he doesn’t mind his language.
We are ready and determined to carry out a religious revolution in Nigeria if the stage-managed defamation and character assassination sponsored by enemies of the Holy Spirit in the garb of clerics against Fr Mbaka persists. We have been silent because Fr Mbaka has been calming us down to protect the image of the Church in Enugu Diocese , but this time, we cannot continue to hold our peace for we believe that respect is reciprocal.
We recall that Fr Mbaka during his last 31st December night that ushered in 2016had prophesied among other things, that the Adoration ministry shall face an unprecedented attack this year, more than what it faced last year.
The caption of the above publication and the ripples that Fr Mbaka’s transfer is generating in the media in just a matter of few weeks into the year makes us rather believe his prophecy on this point is coming true sooner than expected. No wonder he kept insisting that he sees his transfer as the will of God.”
