Gov. Charles Soludo of Anambra State has been given seven days by the Omambala Youth Association (OYA) to retract his alleged derogatory remarks directed at Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Obimma, also known as Fr. Ebube Muonso, the Spiritual Director of the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry (Uke).CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
The group is an umbrella organization for young people in the former Anambra Local Government Area, which includes Ayamwlum, Oyi, Anambra East, and Anambra West. The group’s ultimatum also included the agents of Governor Soludo. The organization claims that Mr. Ejimofor Opara, the National Publicity Secretary of APGA, is among those who are reportedly attacking the priest on behalf of Soludo. According to the group, Opara called the priest a “hypocrite.”
Law Mefor, the state commissioner for information, is another; according to the organization, he called Fr. Obimma a “pretender.” It was also said that Chinedu Obigwe, the coordinator of the APGA Media Forum, had called Fr. Ebube Muonso “the voice of the opposition political parties.”
The organization criticized Soludo’s position about Fr. Ebube Muonso’s warning about insecurity in Anambra State and expressed dissatisfaction that the governor and his supporters were focusing their assaults on the Catholic priest rather than the escalating insecurity that the priest had witnessed. Therefore, the organization asked the governor to order his followers and advisers to publicly retract such statements within seven working days, failing which the young people of Omambala would become disenchanted with the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
As Fr. Ebube Muonso noted in his warning message, Omambala youths have been monitoring the escalating levels of insecurity in Anambra, according to the statement. “Just in December 2024, a number of well-known people in Anambra were abducted, and some were killed.”
Justice Azuka, a politician from the Onitsha North 1 State Constituency, was abducted on December 24, 2024. Fr. Tobias Okonkwo, a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Nnewi, was brutally killed by unidentified assailants in the state’s Ihiala region on December 26, 2024. Three key employees of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company were abducted in Nnewi the following day, December 27, 2024, and have not been freed as of yet.
Prof. Godwin Okpala, a former Anglican Archbishop, and his personal driver were abducted earlier on December 7, 2024, in the state’s Umuchu region.
Additionally, Fr. Ebube Muonso claimed that in order to hunt down the kidnappers and free the victim, he had to pay the police N1 million during the same time period that another Catholic priest, Fr. Nonso, was abducted. The young person was disappointed that the governor used his “attack dogs to go after the Catholic priest” rather than taking the message from the pulpit with the maturity of a leader and combating insecurity with the vigor it required.
“This does not sit well with the youths of Omambala,” the group said. We think that other Anambra residents who see violent crimes and kidnappings on a regular basis will feel the same way. “No leader who genuinely cares about his followers will take offense at anyone who gives him helpful criticism. As state residents, we are dissatisfied with the state’s growing insecurity. We are concerned that the state’s various security agencies’ combined efforts will not be sufficient to stop the trend.
We are also dissatisfied that our governor, who is responsible for ensuring the safety of people and property, is unwilling to acknowledge the existence of such an issue. The Omambala Youths Association will be compelled to stop supporting the APGA and the Soludo administration if the governor does not, within seven days, force the individuals listed to take back their remarks on this issue and if the governor does not demonstrate a clear commitment to protecting the lives and property of Ndi Anambra.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
