|
House in rowdy session over Okija shrines The Guardian From John-Abba Ogbodo, Abuja HE wished he had let it well alone. But it was too late. Sparks flew everywhere as impassioned honourables traded fire and brimstone over a motion he claimed to have moved in good faith. Subdued and repentant Honourable Mbah Ajah from Abia State squeaked a confession he desperately hoped would soothe frayed nerves: "I am just three years in politics... I am still new." Trouble had started simmering when Ajah sponsored a motion commending the Nigeria Police over their exploits in Okija shrine in Anambra. The motion was subsequently listed on the order paper. But then, when the Speaker, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari called on Ajah to move the motion for proper debate, the honourable of "three-year-old" politics back-pedalled. It wasn't the back-pedalling that caused the simmering trouble to boil over. It was the reason Ajah gave for the back-pedalling: tremendous pressure had been mounted on him by some members from the South-East to drop the motion. It was greeted with a "South-Eastern explosion." How dare he hurl that insult on that zone Couldn't he have just announced his withdrawal of the motion harmlessly - without casualties Counter queries flew like missiles. Mao Ohuabunwa from Abia State was particularly riled. The House, he cautioned, should not be misled into any matter that was not compatible with the culture of the country peoples - whatever that means. But then, Ohuabunwa added a twist to his argument, which much have strung some honourable into momentary speechlessness: Some lawmakers who were in the heat of the row (and even outside it) would not have made it to the National Assembly, if they had not patronised places like Okija. The deputy leader, Gilbert Nnaji, who is also the leader of the South-South caucus, pleaded with the members to allow Ajah withdraw the motion since he had indicated intention to do so. But another member from Imo State, Independence Ogunnewe, wasn't satisfied with the level of debate so far. According to him, the pressure, which Ajah referred to, was localised in a particular place and he (Ajah) should be given a chance to explain. Halims Agoda from Delta State arguing along the same line, said the mover of the motion, in line with rule 13(1), could not be allowed to withdraw the motion unless it was approved by the House. His position was supported by the chairman of the Rules and Business Committee, Ita Enang. This, again, created an uproar with most members urging the speaker to put the question to vote. Apparently sensing that those pushing for a debate on the motion were more in number and might have the upper hand in the event of voting, and considering the sensitivity of the issue, the speaker advised the mover to just step down the motion. And Ajah did. It was then Ajah made his confession, that he was a new hand in the game of politics. That humble admission changed the tone and mood of the session: the chamber exploded in laughter. Also yesterday, the House passed a motion empowering the committee on environment to investigate water pollution in different parts of the country. The resolution followed a motion moved by Fancy Akeem Arole, from Lagos State, that an estimated 400,000 cubic metres of water from wells and boreholes in Lagos per day are polluted by effluents from different factories. After some amendments from some members, the House resolved among other things that the Federal Government should compel all agencies responsible for environmental matters to sit up. Meanwhile, as investigations into activities of Ogwugwu shrine continues, indigenes of Okija community in Lagos have lauded its raid by the police. They described the development as a "mighty deliverance and an act of God." "We have been under bondage for too long, but thank God for the great deliverance and the community will never be the same again," an indigene, Mr. Ifeanyi Atuenyi, publisher of Parmanews magazine, said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Atuenyi, who spoke on Wednesday at the launch of his book "Your Best Pathway For Life" said that the destruction of the shrine was a welcome development for the community. "We have been under some form of spiritual attacks, but thank God who has now delivered our people from the burden of evil that have beclouded us for many years. "I am from that area, including this large number of my kinsmen, we have received the greatest deliverance, we have suffered a lot of evil forces from that shrine, thank God for the mighty deliverance that has now come our way, God used the police authority to save our people," he said. Atuenyi dispelled the notion that the entire community was enmeshed in the activity of the shrine, adding that since "the evil spirit in our place has been uprooted and we are happy for it, other shrines should be dismantled." Also speaking, another Okija indigene, Mr. Mark Azoji, said the shrine had brought negative publicity to the community but stressed that the community had contributed to the development of Anambra State. "We have prominent indigenes from Okija that have excelled in different spheres of life in the country, but the shrine is part of the culture of the people that has been misused and abused," he said. Commenting on the book, Atuenyi, a pharmacist, described it as "a small dream that started in a small way but has now grown beyond my widest imaginations."
'Okija Invasion, Deliverance for Nigerians' ThisDay By Theophilus Oyekanmi Invasion of the Okija Shrine in Ihiala Local Government area of Anambra State, has been described as deliverance of Nigerians by God from the shackles of slavery.
God Intervened in Okija, Says Cleric ThisDay By Ibrahim Yahaya As reactions continue to trail the recent discoveries at the Ogwugwu deities in Okija, Anambra State, the General Overseer of the Ministry of Life International a.k.a. City of Life, Apostle John Paul Okwok, said the discovery was the result of God's intervention, stating that the blood of those killed must avenge their death.
Top politicians use fake names in Okija shrine register Daily Independent By Chukwudi Achife (Enugu), Chris Agbambu (Abuja) and Okey Maduforo (Awka) Those expecting to hear a bang in the names of those who patronised the shrines in Okija may be disappointed as eminent personalities who did so used fake identities in the registers to avoid detection One of the priests in police custody said in Abuja that Nigerians should not expect too much from the rosters. Four more were recovered when Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tafa Balogun visited the shrines last week, bringing to 12 the number of registers now in police custody. The suspect said most of the politicians who visited the shrines at night did not write their names in the registers. “They will just rush in to Okija in the night, meet the chief priest, tell him what they want, while even some of their aides and security stayed a distance of about five kilometers to the town”, he explained. According to him, some of them, “whom we even know”, gave fake names to conceal their visit. Police sources disclosed that none of the about 4,000 names so far compiled through the registers ring a bell. Regardless, a group that calls itself the Okija Solidarity Front (OSF) has threatened to publish the names of prominent Nigerians who patronised the shrines in the past 30 years. It accused the police of sensationalising the discoveries at the shrines, stating that the authorities had always known about the goings on. A spokesman for the group, Wilson Okoye, said in Enugu that it is in possession of a comprehensive list of all notable patrons and would publish it as soon as the government acquires the shrine sites “and if the police continue to harass innocent citizens over the discoveries”. In another development, Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer Kolapo Shofoluwe has said that one Mr. Leonard Analikwu did not report to the command his allegation that Super Eagles captain Austin Jay-Jay Okocha reported him to one of the shrines.
Daily Champion ANAMBRA State Government yesterday described the Okija shrines in Ihiala council area as "veritable tools of fraud, 419." It also acquired the vast expanse of forest land where the Ogwugwu Akpu and Ogwugwu Isiala shrines are located for various development projects. Governor Chris Ngige disclosed these in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Mr. Fred Chukwuelobe. The government said its acquisition of the land housing the shrines "represents a loss" of one of the fraudulent mechanisms through which some unnamed people had held sway in the state in particular and Igboland generally. People, it noted, had .over the years allegedly manipulated "faint-hearted and ignorant members of the various communities in the state and Igboland in general as can be evidenced by the tango between Hon. Chuma Nzeribe and the late Chief Victor Okafor, alias Ezego, in 1997." No details of the alleged tango were given. "The Government of Anambra State sees the development (recovery of skulls and corpses from the Okija shrines) as a good riddance to bad rubbish and at the appropriate time government will come out with a proposal for acquisition of the said large expanse of forest land which the shrines had occupied for various government projects," the statement said. At the first raid on the shrines penultimate Wednesday, a police team recovered 50 corpses, some fresh and 20 skulls, which sparked off shocking reactions from across the country. The development and subsequent discovery of more shrines saw Force Headquarters, Abuja last Wednesday deploying about 200 mobile policemen to the shrines while the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) took over investigations into the matter. Police authorities said so far, 32 persons had been arrested in connection with the items recovered at the shrines with some of the suspects identified as top politicians. However, a man claiming to be Chief Chukwumezie Igwe, the informant whose petition led to the storming of the shrines by the police, petitioned Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Tafa Balogun, on alleged threats to his life. According to his letter, dated August 9 this year, "I have been receiving threat letters and strange telephone calls from different quarters."
Those killed by Okija shrine are criminals – Chief priest Daily Independent By Chris Agbambu (Abuja) David Odey, Sebastine Ebhuomhan (Lagos) and Okey Maduforo (Awka) Hooked on the barbarism he has probably spent all his life practising, the chief priest of Okija shrine, Eddy Ndukwu, says the killings there are justified and vowed to continue the horrific vocation if he regains his freedom. Ndukwu, who claims to be a devout Christian, said the victims were criminals. When asked in police custody in Awka if he knew that the killing of human beings is unlawful, he replied: “Nobody has ever told me that it is unlawful. My forefathers, my grandfather, and my mother never told me that it is against the laws of the land. Nobody told me that if somebody is cheated, or offended and runs to the shrine for assistance, it is unlawful. I am just hearing that for the first time”. Backing him, South East Council of Chief Priests in Anambra State have started a seven-day fasting, prayers and hourly incantation over the raid on the shrine. Their representative, Onuchukwu James Clerk, said in Awka that the practice of traditional religion is not against the Constitution and that the raid is a breach of their freedom of worship. Meanwhile, all the 31 suspects arrested in connection with killings at the shrine were on Thursday moved to Abuja from Awka. They arrived Abuja at about 4:15 p.m. with an escort of about 100 mobile policemen led by the inspector general of police monitoring team commanded by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Yusuf Ahmed. The team also brought registers containing the names of the victims who died at the shrine as well as those who visited it. Police believe that there are other shrines in Anambra and in the neighbouring Imo State, which they want to storm. It is a hunch buttressed by claims by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) that it had discovered about 200 shrines in Anmabra State long before the police swooped on Okija. A member of MASSOB who pleaded anonymity, said the body had, in December last year, told its members to get the names of all the major shrines in Igboland with a view to praying for their destruction. It was in the course of this exercise, he explained, that 200 shrines were discovered in Anambra State alone, and that it was after MASSOB members went into marathon prayers that the police swooped on Okija. The operation was long overdue, as the shrine had been exposed five months ago by Daily Independent Breaking News. On March 4, it published an exclusive story on the preservation of the corpse of the late Igbo billionaire, Victor Okafor, alias Ezego, at the shrine, years after his death and purported burial.
OKIJA SHRINE: NewAge By Gabriel Enogholase, Enugu Amidst criticisms that greeted his response to the raid on Okija shrine, Secretary-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Col. Joe Achuzia (rtd) on Wednesday maintained his earlier position that the raid should not be used to tarnish the image of the Igbo race, even as erstwhile Chairman of Anambra State Council of Traditional Rulers, Igwe Alex Nwokedi justified the raid and lashed out at prominent Nigerians who patronize the shrines. Achuzia while reacting to the unsigned statement allegedly issued by the pan-Igbo cultural organization disowning his earlier statement on the matter, told newsmen in a telephone interview, that his earlier position on the issue was unshakeable, stating that Igbos should not be singled out for castigation over the presence or worship of shrines like those found in Okija, Anambra State. He explained that his position was that there are similar shrines all over Nigeria and all of them should be given similar treatment by the Nigeria Police, stressing that the handling of the Okija shrine raid had portrayed the entire Igbo race as cannibals and idol worshippers. "As far as I am concerned, I am not interested in what happened, but they should not make it an Igbo issue because there are similar shrines in every state in Nigeria and should be accorded the same treatment. I am not defending whatever the chief priests and the worshippers did, but people should not say it is peculiar to Ndigbo," Achuzia said. The former Biafrian warlord stated that his position was being twisted and misinterpreted by those who did not really understand his stance on the issue. Asked to react to the reports that Ohaneze disowned his comment on the shrine raid, Achuzia retorted: "I am not interested; all I have said is that this thing should not be made an Igbo issue, there should be a limit to everything." However, Igwe Nwokedi who is the traditional ruler of Achalla community in Anambra State, blamed prominent Nigerians for the prevalence of idolatry in the country, saying that if such people do not patronize the shrines, the operators would not engage in such practices. He challenged the Inspector General of Police to release names of prominent Nigerians associated with the Okija shrines, stating that the measure would help stop people from engaging in such ungodly practices. "You don't blame the priest or the worshippers of the shrine. We should blame the elite, the educated and prominent people amongst us who go there. Are we not ashamed of ourselves? Anybody who had been there should be ashamed of himself. What is the point that on Sunday we go to church and on Monday we go to shrine and swear. What point are we making", he said. He added that he was in support of the police raid, saying since human lives were involved there was nothing wrong in police raiding the area to prevent further destruction of lives as well as bringing the culprits to book.
Anambra Govt to Acquire Okija Shrine ThisDay From Charles Onyekamuo in Awka Anambra State government yesterday said it was going to acquire for developmental purpose the Ogwugwu forest in Okija which houses shrines where over 50 dead bodies and 30 human skulls were discovered by the police in a raid last week.
Vanguard ABUJA — INSPECTOR General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun, received a presidential directive yesterday to personally take charge of the on-going investigation into the Okija Shrines, where the police last week recovered 20 human skulls and a fresh corpse. The IG is also to ensure that the brains behind the rituals, whatever their status, are brought to book. The pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze, in its first reaction to the Okija incident disowned a statement credited to its Secretary-General, Chief Joe Achuzia, to the effect that the police raid on the shrines was uncalled for, and that shrines are part of Igbo tradition. The Ohanaeze described the Okija discovery as a major tragedy, and alien to Ndigbo. Meanwhile, the man who assisted the police in unraveling the Okija shrines has cried out over alleged threats to his life. Already, a detachment of about 70 heavily armed policemen from Mopol 44, Abuja, led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, has left the Federal Capital for Awka and Okija to secure the 35 suspects already arrested, arrest more if need be and take along very important evidence to Force Headquarters, Abuja. Police sources told Vanguard that the president was personally interested in the matter, following the horrifying revelations, the interest it has generated worldwide and the need to use the Okija incident to send a once and for all signal to ritualists in the country that the time has come for an end to their blood sucking escapades. Two trucks, one Mercedez Benz 911 and one Tata truck, were seen loaded with mobile policemen singing war songs while a pick-up van carrying officers and another 504 salon escort car were seen heading to the Anambra State capital, Awka at about 6p.m. yesterday. Vanguard also learnt that the action of the presidency might not be unconnected with the position of the Anambra State Police Commissioner, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, that the shrines were used for advance fee fraud purposes to dupe people and not any form of worship or judgement as claimed by some people. According to sources, nobody has been able to explain how the four fresh heads of people got to the shrines if indeed, the shrines and skulls found there have been in existence for different reasons other than ritual killings or 419 purposes. Besides, findings of the police showed that almost all the suspects including the priests, the servants, and errand boys all boast of multi-million naira mansions in Awka and Okija which convinced the police that the shrines were used for 419 purposes. Sources said a building belonging to a servant of a chief priest which the police visited during investigations was valued at over N100 million. *Ohanaeze reacts And in a statement yesterday, the Ohanaeze said its Secretary-General, Chief Achuzia, was not speaking for it when he tried to justify the existence of the shrines. Its words: "Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the dynamic, humane and civilised Igbo race that it represents, totally and completely dissociates itself from the statements and allegations contained in these reports attributed to Colonel Joe Achuzia (rtd), its Secretary-General. Ohanaeze does not believe that its Secretary-General made these unauthorised statements, which unjustly portray Ndigbo as primitive, inhumane and barbaric, especially as these statements do not represent, even remotely, the official position of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. In any event, all the information and allegations contained in the said reports are totally alien to the leadership of Ohanaeze and to millions of reputable and responsible Ndigbo who are busy carrying on their businesses within the provisions of the law. "Whilst Ohanaeze is investigating the authenticity of these reports, we state below the official position of Ohanaeze Ndigbo on each of the main allegations as expressed in these reports. "Ohanaeze Ndigbo is a responsible law-abiding organisation totally committed to the modern concepts of democracy and the rule of law. It endorses and recognises the duties and responsibilities of the police in the enforcement of the laws of the land. Ohanaeze and the millions of law-abiding Ndigbo whose interests and aspirations it represents, will never support any attempt to restrain the police or any other law enforcement agency from carrying out, justly and equitably, its legitimate functions aimed at detecting crimes and protecting the rights and interests of the people. "Ndigbo in the 20th and 21st centuries are amongst the most humane and civilised beings, not just in modern Africa, but in the world. All they demand is justice for all, a level playing field and freedom under the law so that they can exercise their skills and carry on their legitimate businesses peacefully. Ohanaeze maintains that there is no truth whatsoever in the allegations contained in these unfortunate reports that it is part of the culture, history and tradition of Ndigbo to deal in human skulls in shrines in the manner described in these reports and in the alleged interview. "To the best of our knowledge, the existence of the said shrines and their procedures as described in these reports are totally alien to Ohanaeze as a body and to Ndigbo in general, and neither the present leadership nor those before it seemed to have any knowledge of such shrines. "In line with their commitment to the modern principles of justice and the rule of law, Ohanaeze and the millions of Ndigbo that it represents recognise, and subscribe to the jurisdiction of the regular courts as prescribed in the laws of the land. To this end, Ohanaeze and Ndigbo are not in support of any other 'parallel' judicial system presided over by 'priests and gods' that dispense instant justice, including the death penalty as described in these shocking reports. Ohanaeze Ndigbo believes that the Okija discovery is a major tragedy that calls for serious reflection by all right-thinking Nigerians. "In the light of the foregoing, Ohanaeze Ndigbo will continue to work with other Nigerians to eliminate all those factors that create and sustain the kind of society that harbours the negative factors, which impede our transition to the modern nation of our dream. "In view of the serious issues raised by the Okija shrines issues and the reports that followed, the President-General of Ohanaeze has directed that an emergency meeting of the principal organs of Ohanaeze be summoned to deliberate on the subject. Thereafter, a major press conference would be addressed on behalf of Ohanaeze Ndigbo." lInformant cries out over life. Meanwhile, Chief Chukwumeze Nwachinemelu Igwe who said he assisted the police in unravelling the Okija shrines has written a petition to the police, alleging threats to his life. He said: "Ever since the matter was blown open, my life has been put in danger. I have been receiving threat letters and strange telephone calls from different quarters. Attached are photocopies of some of the letters. "I implore the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Nigeria police or her security agents to give me and members of my family protection so that I will not regret helping the Nigeria police in carrying out their civic responsibilities. There are other startling revelations I can make about the Okija shrines which I will not make until I am convinced that my life, family and property are safe and possibly if I can be made to see the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria." |
