DEEPER LIFE PASTOR ARRESTED, DETAINED BY MASQUERADE
DEEPER LIFE PASTOR ARRESTED, DETAINED
BY MASQUERADE
A Pastor with Deeper Life Bible
Church in Ubahu, Ihembosi Parish, Mark Okeke, has narrated how he was detained
and tied in a shrine by a masquerade in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra
State.
Okeke said that he was flogged,
“arrested” and dragged to the masquerade’s shrine in Otukwe village where the
masquerade and his accomplices stripped him naked and tied him to their
shrine, probably to use him for human sacrifice.
He said that on the fateful day, he
came out of his house where the masquerades accosted him and began to flog him
and ignored all his pleas.
Okeke said that he told them that he
is the pastor with Deeper Life Bible Church in the next village and that since
he gave his life to Jesus Christ, he had renounced his membership of the
masquerade cult as a born again Christian.
According to the pastor, the flogging
and beating did not stop as they dragged him to the shrine (Oda Mmanwu) where
they removed his clothes, tore them into shreds and tied him naked in the
shrine.
Okeke said that when he saw them with
machetes, he concluded that the end had come for him and thanked God they
changed their mind and locked the shrine leaving him naked and tied.
The clergyman added that as the
masquerade and his accomplices were leaving they vowed to deal with him when
they returned. He said that since he could not figure out what may happen when
they came back he prayed and God intervened.
Okeke said that the ropes they used
to tie his hands suddenly snapped and when he realised that his hands were
freed, he used them to untie the ropes on his waist and legs and escaped.
According to the pastor, he first
called at the house of his sibling, a sister who is married to a man living in
Ozubulu, a border town with Ihembosi. He said that he was later told that when
the masquerade returned and discovered that he had escaped, they were
infuriated and stormed his residence where they went on rampage.
His ordeal has been widely condemned
by groups and prominent people in the area.
The President-General of Ihembosi
People’s Assembly (IPA), Barr Chika Dumije, deplored the action of the masquerade
and sued for peace.
Also, the Ihembosi Born Again
Christian Organisation (IBACO), an umbrella body for the
Pentecostal/Evangelical churches in Ihembosi and the Scripture Union (SU)
Nigeria has vowed to use the incident to put an end to the intimidation of its
members by the masquerades.
The Chairman of IBACO, Mr. Gab
Ugwumba, said that the group had twice signed agreements with the Masquerade
Council, but were violated. He said that since there is freedom of worship,
association and movement as enshrined in the Constitution of Nigeria, the
masquerades should allow born-again Christians to worship God as they wish.
He appealed to the Anambra State
government to call the masquerades to order and ensure that the fundamental
rights and dignity of the human person are respected.
An IBACO official said that certain
government officials, an ex-minister in the First Republic and a Roman
Catholic priest were behind the recent revival of the masquerade cult in Anambra.
