Catholic Church shut down in Ette

Youths chase priest, members out of church

…Bishop insulted us – Group

There is palpable tension  in Ette Community, a border town between Enugu and Kogi states, following the closing down of the Catholic Church in the area by the Ette Pro Kogi Movement.
Christmas and New Year church activities did not hold at St. James Catholic Parish, Ette even as the Parish Priest and other church members are on the run for dear lives Sun Newspaper Reported

According to eyewitness account, trouble started  during the recent reception of the two newly ordained priests from the community, when some members of the Ette Pro Kogi Movement, a group that had been agitating for transferred citizenship to Kogi State from Enugu State, stormed the church.

The Catholic Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Godfrey Onah, was in attendance where he enjoined the Ette Catholic community to maintain peace, harmony and progress while seeking a peaceful solution to their political problems.  Immediately the bishop left, the individuals seized the microphone, switched off the electric generator and chased away the Christians. They allegedly blocked the roads leading to the houses of the newly ordained priests and beat up some of their relatives.

Since Sunday, December 15, 2013, there has been no holy mass and other church activities in the parish and 14 stations of the Catholic Church in Ette even as the Catholics live in fear .
When the reporter visited the community yesterday, the parish church premises was deserted while the Priest in charge, Rev. Fr. Sebastine Onah, was said to have relocated to Nsukka .

Some residents, who spoke to Daily Sun on condition of anonymity, said closing down the church and preventing members of the Catholic congregation from worship was the high point of the activities of the Ette Pro Kogi Movement, said to have put up all manner of activities in their agitation to be made citizens of Kogi State.

When Daily Sun spoke on phone to the Coordinator, Ette Pro Kogi Movement, Dr. Aaron Akor, he denied that the church was closed down, saying that the absence of the Parish Priest from the parish did not mean that the church had been closed. He said that he just met with the Ette indigenous Catechists, who are administering the church activities. He blamed the crisis on the 

Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Most Rev. G.I . Onah, whom he alleged made inflammatory comments on the day he visited the community.

Akor said the bishop came without invitation and insulted them in his speech.  Akor said all they were agitating for was for the Nsukka Diocese to hands-off the parish because they belong to Idah Diocese in Kogi State.

Meanwhile, the Bishop as at the time of filing this report, had declared a special prayer in all the parishes in Nsukka diocese for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.