By Charles Igbo
The embattled Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Nigeria, Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka, has accepted his fate.
He has stopped every activity of the Ministry at the Adoration Ground till further notice.
Mbaka did this on the heels of the order by the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, His Lordship, Calistus Onaga, who shut down the Ministry.
The Bishop shut it down after Mbaka embarked on an unprovoked hateful attack on Peter Obi, a former two-time Governor of Anambra State and the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party on Wednesday during his mid-week Service.
Mbaka had called Obi stingy, placed a curse on him that as far as God lives, he would never be President. He asked the Labour Party to remove Obi as its candidate, and asked that Obi should never be voted for.
Mbaka garrulous nature and such un-Priestly utterances caused an uproar, outrage and backlash against him. He was pummeled from all sides. The Enugu Catholic Diocese distanced itself from Mbaka.
Seeing that he had bitten more than he could chew, Mbaka issued a personally signed statement where he apologised to Obi and the millions of youths who are the foundation of Obi’s supporters, many of whom started an immediate exit from Mbaka’s Ministry. The apology did not save him.
On Friday, Bishop Onaga shut down the Adoration centre and ordered all Priests in the Diocese and every Catholic faithful not to step foot on the grounds of the Centre again.
On Saturday, Mbaka AMEN, in a statement, asked all his adherents to keep off the Centre in obedience to the Bishop’s order. They were informed that there will be no activities at the Ministry from June 19, 2022.
The statement reads:
“Dear Adorers,
“There will be no program starting from tomorrow being 19th June, 2022, at Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria, Amen, Umuchigbo, Emene, Enugu State.
“Sunday Mass, Wednesday (E No Dey) and Night Programs will not hold until Further Notice.
“God bless Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria, Amen, and God bless Our Spiritual Director, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka.
“Keep praying for Our Daddy and may God Bless you all.”
Not a few people have described the use of “Our Daddy” as un-Catholic. They say it sounds more like what Pentecostal adherents would say.
This is the second time Mbaka would be sanctioned. The first time was when he was suspended for one month over his scandalous tango with President Muhammadu Buhari who he, suddenly, began to attack after supporting him since 2014.
In response to the attack, the Presidency, in a statement signed by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Shehu Garba, revealed it was because Buhari refused to give Mbaka the Contracts he requested for without due process. Mbaka did not quite deny.
He said he took three foreigners to the President for a contract to improve the power situation in Nigeria. Not a few people were unimpressed and disappointed by his explanation.
