Mbaka Chides Catholic Bishop; Tells Him “You Cannot Control My Mouth |The Source

By Uche Mbah

“Are you the owner of my mouth? You can’t tell me who to bless. If you (Bishop) are not happy that I blessed someone, you have your own mouth, you can curse the person”.

Leader of the Adoration Ministries, Enugu, Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka  has accused the Diocesan Bishop of Enugu, Callistus Onaga, of detaining him. He also said he refused an offer of embarking on a course to Rome because it was meant to remove him from the Adoration Ministry. He would never leave, he emphasised.

Exonerating the DSS from the allegation that it was the Service that arrested him, Mbaka disclosed that it was the Bishop who asked him to leave the Parish House, the Adoration Ministry’s ground, and never step in there for 30 days.

Fr. Mbaka had suddenly disappeared from the Adoration Ground on Tuesday, fuelling strong speculations that he had been arrested by the DSS.

But the DSS issued a statement to the effect that he was not in their custody.

On Wednesday, his followers, in their hundreds embarked on a protest in the State Capital Enugu, shutting down businesses, and headed to the Cathedral and the Bishop’s Court.

They attacked the Bishop’s Court, destroying things.

On his re-appearance later on Wednesday, Mbaka, disrespectfully blamed Bushop Onaga for “his ordeal”. He said the Bishop detained him at the Bishop’s Court, and asked him to stay there for 30 days and rethink his activities.

Problem started when the Father got enmeshed in a Political spat with the Presidency. One of those who campaigned vigorously for President Muhammadu Buhari and predicted his victory in 2015 and 2019, Mbaka, last week, suddenly made a u-turn and asked the President to resign from office, failing which he called on the National Assembly to impeach him.

The Presidency fired back by accusing Mbaka of attacking Buhari because the President denied him contracts. Mbaka did not deny the allegation of taking three expatriate contractors to Buhari, but said it was for the good of the nation since they said they could wipe out insecurity in Nigeria within one month.

The storm was getting serious, to the embarrassment of the Catholic Church. The Bishop weighed in by inviting Mbaka to his Court, and keeping him in ” protective custody.”

But he did not bargain with the reaction of Mbaka’s followers, or the Father’s defiance.

Trouble had started when his followers went to the Adoration Ministry to worship but to their surprise, the Reverend Father was absent. Soon, words filtered in that he may have been summoned by the Bishop.

The initial confusion resulted in many online medium declaring him missing, and many pointing suspicious fingers at security agencies, bearing in mind his recent utterances condemning President Buhari and endorsing the Biafran separatist leader, Nnamdi kanu.

The faithfuls marched to the Bishop’s Court in Enugu and demanded to see the Priest, but were denied entrance to the Bishop’s house. They blocked the street with tricycles. With time the demonstrations became violent resulting in the intervention of the Police area Command, who tried to calm the frayed nerves and later entered the Bishop court.

Glass windows and AC vents were vandalized, and hoodlums were prepared to burn down the building. “It is our offering money that built the house, so we can destroy It if we like”, one woman fumed. Some of the protesters were carrying placards.

Hours later, Mbaka came out of the Bishop’s Court to a tumultuous welcome by his followers. They proceeded to the Adoration Ground where he addressed them.

In his address, Mbaka said the Bishop was planning on keeping him at the Bishop house for 30 days because of his recent statements on Buhari and Nnamdi Kanu. He said he was offered a trip to Rome for a course to get him out of the way.

“If I had left, would I have been able to come back here to stop the destruction?” He queried. He said he will never leave Adoration Ministry to anyone or to anywhere-a clear defiance to Church constituted authorities.

He said Bishop Callistus Onaga was not comfortable that he blessed Nnamdi Kanu. “Are you the owner of my mouth? You can’t tell me who to bless? If you are not happy that I blessed someone, you have your own mouth, you can curse the person,” he declared, adding: ” I have no problem with the Catholic church or any Church. I am a divine vessel, and I will not leave the charity that I am doing here.