Tension is currently mounting in
Amaechi, Awkunanaw, Enugu
South Local Government, home
of former Senate president,
Chief Ken Nnamani, where some
Church leaders are gearing up
for a showdown with the parish
priest of St. Jude’s Catholic
Church in the community.
Women from the Church
yesterday staged a protest calling
for the removal of the parish
priest, Rev. Fr. John Amadi whom
they accused of high
handedness. The protesters also
condemned what they termed
unilateral dissolution of the
board of Holy Angel
Comprehensive Secondary
School by Rev. Fr. John Amadi.
The aggrieved women, who
displayed various placards with
different inscriptions including
“Fr. Amadi, are you above the
law,” “the whole world should
help us,” “Fr. Amadi wants to kill
us,” besieged the Church
compound singing against the
continued stay of the priest in
their community.
They accused the parish priest of
high handedness, alleging that
the reverend father had
succeeded in sowing seeds of
discord among them. President
of Catholic Women Organisation
(CWO) of the parish, Mrs. Kate
Egbo, who spoke on behalf of
the women, alleged that the
priest did not consult the
parishioners before dissolving the
school’s board of trustees.
Recalling that the school was
founded by the CWO, the
women’s spokesperson alleged
that the priest had converted the
secondary school which
belonged to the parish to his
personal property. She alleged
further that the parish priest
now ran the school unilaterally,
adding that recently, he
increased the school fees from
5,200 to 8,500 without consulting
the stakeholders.
Mrs. Egbo maintained that the
dissolution of the school’s
former board was unacceptable
to them, appealing to the Enugu
Catholic Bishop, Callistus Onaga,
to, as a matter of urgency, wade
into the matter to avoid any
breach of public peace by the
aggrieved parishioners. Also
speaking, the First Vice Chairman
of the Parish Council, Mr. Daniel
Ikechukwu Egbo, further alleged
that the man of God lacked
accountability and transparency,
challenging the priest to account
for the money realised during
the fund raising ceremony for
the parish’s ongoing Church
building held last year.
He explained that the secondary
school project was initiated by
the parish with a view to
generating revenue and
wondered why an individual
should turn it into a private
venture.
What is our churches turning into?
