By Sam Onwuemeodo.
The story, which nobody has contradicted was that, Emeka Ihedioha, former governor of Imo State, was in Sokoto State on condolence to his Political ally and friend, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, over the death of his elder brother.
Tambuwal is a Muslim. An Alhaji. Ihedioha is a Christian. A Knight of the Anglican Communion. They all believe that GOD exists. No doubt about that.
You can simply allude that, the two Politicians represent two religions, Islam and Christianity. With different names for GOD. GOD ( Christianity). Allah ( lslam). But they have continued to be friends. They have remained Political friends.
With the video or photograph in circulation, Ihedioha was seen with Tambuwal offering prayers to GOD for the dead elderly brother. Ihedioha was part of the prayer.
Did he commit any crime, being part of the prayer to GOD for the dead ? The answer is No. Did he do well, being part of the prayer?”. The answer is yes.
Genuine Muslims and genuine Christians are not at war. Islam and Christianity as religions are not at war. Those at war, are those who do not understand. Those who do not understand the word of God. And things of the Spirit.
In Jewish religion, he is called Yaweh, meaning God. In Christian religion, he is called God. In Islam, he is called Allah. In Igbo, He is called Chineke or Chukwu. ln Hebrew , he is Jehova. All talking about one God. This great GOD. Dramatizing or showing the existence of the ALMIGHTY GOD.
Ihedioha would not have walked away when it came to the point of praying to Allah (God). He would not have shunned the prayer. That would have been the worst of actions. Those trying to use the prayer as blackmail tool do not understand . They need to be told. They need to be taught. They need spiritual rebirth. They are just , the Pharisees and Sadducees of our time.
And l crave your indulgence to ask: ls it not better to worship God under any WORLD recognised religion , and at any given time, than to invade the Church of God, with armoured vehicle, BAZOOKA, Ak49 and Sk47 rifles; disrupted his worship, shot sporadically at him, and his worshippers?. Even shot at his shepherds (priests) and the Angels? That’s the meaning or imports or connotations of what they did.
What if GOD was to be a physical being? . But GLORY to GOD, that he is not like me and you. He is like Uche Nwosu they could grab and dragged into one of their invading vehicles. God is bigger than what the invaders had imagined that he is. Follow me closely.
Who is godly, before God?. The man who worshipped him in Sokoto with his Muslim friend or those who invaded the Church of God on a Sunday , when the worshippers were praising him in their own style. When they were remembering the Sabbath day and keeping it holy; before the invaders came with Armoured vehicle, Bazooka, AK 49 and AK47 rifles.
If what Ihedioha did in Sokoto was a crime, then most governors, former governors, Justices, present and retired, Senators, etal who are Muslims must have committed a lot of such crime before now .
Most of the politicians from the North who are Muslims had severally attended burial Church Services in various parts of the South-East, South-South, South-West, and even in the North.
In 2003, when Peter Odili’s father-in-law, HRM Barr. Eze Bernard Nzenwa was buried. Odili was the Rivers State governor then.
At the funeral mass, at Holy Ghost Parish Omega Obizi, Mbaise, on Saturday, September 6, 2003, I counted seven governors from the North (Muslims), Six first class Emirs, justices , avalanche of National Assembly members from the North ( Muslims) , inside the Church.
The presiding Bishop would say, “May we rise”. They would rise. “May we sit” they would sit. When the songs were on, they would be moving their lips as if they were singing, but they were not . But you have gotten my point. This is one example, out of many of such happenings.
l had seen the Pope in a mosque. Seen the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Mosque. All in their sincere and concerted effort to show that, we are all GOD’S creations. All in search of religious understanding and tolerance. We are talking about Spiritual things or the things of the spirit.
I have never had the Muslims in the North accusing their people who had attended funeral Church Services in the EAST of abandoning lslam and becoming Christians, on the ground of such development.
Those who ordered for the invasion of St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Eziama-Obaire on Sunday, December 26, 2021 are the enemies of God and Christianity. Those who mustered the Courage to climb the altar of God and began to shoot sporadically were agents of the devil. The apostles of anti-Christ. Those who disrupted the worship of God on that Sunday are the culprits.
Even in the Muslim Countries like Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Egypt, and so on, it has not been heard that armed personnel invaded a Church on a Sunday and began to shoot indiscriminately.
With all that have been happening in the Middle East, even during wars, you could hardly hear about Church invasion by armed personnel.
Of all the books l had read about the Biafra and Nigeria civil war, l never read about Soldiers invading Church or Churches. Or, Mosques.
But , it has happened in lmo, that could be regarded as the number one Christian State in Nigeria. And under democracy.
No Muslim would dare order for a Mosque to be invaded for any reason. But here we are. The Case of the invasion of the Church at Eziama Obaire, Nkwerre.
During the governorship of Rochas Okorocha, a lot of leading Muslims from the North were in the State and worshipped with him at the Government House Chapel.
Even during the burial of Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, some Justices of Muslim extraction, were in the Church Service at Oguta . The problem with those who wanted to get at lhedioha with the Sokoto outing, was that, they could not do their home work well before hitting the ground.
And the funny aspect of the whole thing is that, those attacking or condemning lhedioha for praying to God (Allah) in Sokoto, never raised eyebrow over the invasion of St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Eziama-Obaire and the disruption of the Church Service, vis-à-vis, the abduction of Uche Nwosu.
The double-standard people in our midst. You failed or refused to condemn those who shot God with weapons of mass destruction, but took exception to someone who bowed before God, with his two hands showing recognition of this great God. ABBA FATHER. You want to try.? That would be at your own peril or risk. At your own cost or expense.
If joining Tambuwal to pray for his late brother has made Ihedioha a Muslim, then, we have got a lot of Muslims in the North who have become Christians for also worshiping in the State for burial or something else.
My submission is that, it pays to worship God or Allah anywhere and in any style, than invading his Church on a “Sabbath day” (Sunday), climbed his altar and began to shoot sporadically or randomly. l ask again, What if God was to be a human being?
Those who were behind what happened at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Eziama-Obaire are the real “Jihadists” , against Christianity and all it stands for. We hold them in contempt. We have found them guilty of sacrilege. And sentenced them accordingly.
What they did can not be defended. It can not be explained. Very unimaginable. They had defecated and urinated in the House of God. They desecrated the Church of God. The Church of Yaweh. The Church of Elohim. Allah. Allah Kaiye. Awusa nnagii nkata nkata. That is, Awusa or Hausa , small, small.
For Ihedioha in Sokoto, baa wahala, ba Magana. No problem. Just a distraction from the main crime , against God and humanity. They scattered everything, including the Angels on guard. Abomination.
The ugly story or history they have created for themselves and for lmo state .
Each time l remember what happened at Eziama-Obaire, l would begin to cry profusely. Even now , l am crying , but nobody to tell me , Sam Onwuemeodo stop crying. l want people to volunteer to be telling me to stop crying each time, l begin to cry over the Eziama-Obaire incident. lncident of absurdity.
But, you know what? We Shall Continue to Clap for Jesus.
