The 'Adulteration' Ground Tragedy

OPINION

We heard a lot of political brickbat after the death of our dear friends, brothers and sisters who lost their lives last Saturday in an unfortunate manner at Uke, Anambra State, during an all night crusade at the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry under the watch of Rev. Fr Emannuel Obinna.

So I have cleverly changed the word adoration to adulteration to give you a sense of what direction my message to the nation will be. Before I get down to the nitty-gritty of the issue, let me warn those of you who care about your life and family that you should steer clear of crusade grounds with vested political interest henceforth, because such places will only rob you of your miracles rather than delivering one to you. If you find that difficult to stomach, the harvest of deaths at the 'adulteration' ground should give you a change of heart. We now know that 30 people lost their lives and several others wounded, because something suddenly went wrong with a hitherto holy ground.

The ground had become polluted under the feet of the people, because those with ulterior motive were found there. Yes, because of the large number of people found in churches nowadays, the church has become a good avenue for politicians to campaign for elections, but they now do it without restrains. The ugly side of the Anambra debacle is that the politicians who now accuse one another trying to shift the blame did not even have respect for those who died or wait to mourn with the family of the dead before they took the fight to twitter and all available tools of campaign. The major actors in this episode of deaths in Anambra are the candidates of All Progressives Congress, Senator Chris Ngige and All Progressives Grand Alliance's Willie Obiano.

I have no problem when politicians and their supporters go to pray to God, but it angers me when politicians and their supporters turn a praying ground to a campaign ground. What happened in Uke could have been prevented, if pretence had not been mixed with the truth. The vigil according to reports was a special one, as November 1, was All Saints Day in the church calendar and that accounted for the over one hundred thousand faithful that gathered. And since it's the eve of election in Anambra State, it became a platform for campaign. Otherwise, how do you justify wearing Ankara with photo of governorship candidate and inscription about All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) on it to a crusade ground? How do you justify raising the placard bearing the photo of the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) at a prayer meeting? These are the questions that the architects of the death of these innocent people who died should come forward to answer.

While I agree that we cannot tell anyone what to wear or where to go at any particular hour of the day as a people with inalienable rights, it gives me serious concern that our politicians are too greedy to be sensitive to repercussion of their actions such as we witnessed in Uke. Perhaps, if Governor Peter Obi and his APGA team had avoided that meeting that night, these unnecessary deaths would have been averted. It was clear that what happened was a calculated attempt to create bad news for APGA gubernatorial candidate, Obiano who is in the clear lead among the contenders for the office of the governor of Anambra State that will become vacant in a matter of days. It also shocked me that Senator Ngige's supporters could go to such an extent of creating an environment for chaos in the house of God, if indeed they trust in God for victory during the election.

I listened to Obi as he explained what happened and this is what he had to say: It is worth-mentioning that when I was called upon by the Priest to speak as the governor of the state at about 12 midnight when the Mass ended, a group of people located in three different spots started chanting Ngige slogans and waving the brooms of All Progressives Congress and the pictures of Dr. Chris Ngige, the APC's flag bearer in the November 16 Governorship election. It took up to 20 minutes for the priest to calm them down.

"I was surprised that some people would turn a prayer ground into a campaign venue. In my remarks, which lasted no more than five minutes, I promised to sponsor 20 indigent people from among the faithful on pilgrimage, provide access road to the premises and urged all present to pray for Anambra State and Nigeria. The Presiding priest and all present can testify to this, and it is on tape.

And this is Ngige"s version of the story after posting a photo of APGA team at the crusade ground on twitter. He wrote: "My people, be the judge: Are these men praying or campaigning? Does one go to a vigil in a campaign uniform? You see their lying lives. The last time I attended the adoration at Uke was in June. Then I had not even declared for governorship. I quietly went as an individual to seek the face of God. The priest prayed for me and I quietly left. But, in their desperation, these gentlemen here turned a praying-ground to a campaign ground. Judge for yourself. Are they praying or campaigning?" Ngige wrote, after posting the picture on his Facebook page.

In another message on Twitter, Ngige said, "Desperation can make a man do the unthinkable. It is foolhardy for the culprits at Uke to believe that they can lie successfully about an event attended by about 100,000 people. Every lie has an expiry date; the truth remains constant.

"Lies have a way of catching up with liars. These people are heartless. Their hands are soaked in blood! For the records, the church has gone on for years without incidence until the merchants of blood visited."

Now, the 30 people who died and the wounded can no longer be part of those who will cast their votes for either of the candidates during the election, for the dead cannot rise up again and the wounded would probably be too weak. That is a lesson as we face the 2015 elections and other mid-term elections. So it's important you pay attention to my warning, steer clear of religious grounds with political colouration. In such places anything can happen. You'll either be given a miracle or be mourned.
BY ADEOLA AKINREMI