Catholic Star News

April 12, 2018 at St. Peter’s Mission Ujamaityu

Yav Terhemen Silas who had falsely announced the death of Bishop Adoboh of Katsina-Ala Catholic diocese on social media has been remanded at the Makurdi Medium Security Prison for malicious publication made in bad faith. 

                The publication which had gone viral, led to a swift reaction from one Jude Yange who lives in the United States to produce a counter-video of Bishop Adoboh rebuffing the fake news of his death.

                The Catholic diocese of Katsina-Ala also reacted by requesting the diocesan legal advisor to seek redress, following the irrational behaviour of Mr. Yav which threw the Catholic Church worldwide into confusion and caused much psychological damage to many, especially the Church in Nigeria.

When the suspect was arrested, he admitted publishing the post but alleged that he shared the post from the wall of one Festus Aoraan. Police investigation, however, did not agree with his defence. He initially undertook to help the police get the said Festus. He was granted administrative bail by the police but he failed to discharge his undertaking. His bail was consequently revoked. When he appeared before the Makurdi Chief Magistrate’s Court 1, his lawyer advised him to deny the allegation, which he did. Upon further preliminary inquiry by the court, his lawyer, Ushahemba Dekaa Esq (speaking from the bar) told the truth that his client committed the alleged offences.  The lawyer appealed that his client be admitted to bail but the presiding Magistrate refused his oral application. The accused was ordered to be remanded at the Medium Prison Makurdi. The case is adjourned for further mention to April 2, 2019.

Tyokyaa Jacob

The Catholic Diocese of Makurdi has finalized plans to etch the gruesome murder of two of her priests along with their parishioners during a Mass at St. Ignatius Quasi-Parish, Ayar-Mbalom in Gwer local government area of Benue State, on the public memory for posterity.

The diocesan director of Social Communications, Father Moses Iorpauu made the revelation after a meeting with stakeholders in Bishop’s House, Makurdi.

He said that an agreement of collaboration has been signed between representatives of the diocese and those of Holy Club Productions to produce a memorial film for the Mbalom Massacre of 24th April, 2018.

The film which has “Angough Ime (Total Darkness)” as working title, will be directed by Don Murphy. It is expected to be released by end of March, 2019.

Father Iorapuu used the occasion to distance the diocese from the activities of JBM Productions who are marketing a film which they claim is a Catholic Media Production. He warned the group to recall all films sold under that pretext, saying the story being told does not reflect the views of the Church.

The formal agreement was signed by Father Iorapuu who represented Bishop Wilfred Anagbe and was witnessed by Mrs. G. Shaahu, representing Areopagus Communications Limited and Father Felix Nyinya, the priest-in-charge of St. Ignatius Ayar-Mbalom. It took place in the conference hall of Bishop’s House on February 11, 2019 with members of the film crew and press present.

The saying that one good turn deserves another has been brought to life in Mbakyor Community of Gwer East Local Government Area, Benue State, whose joy knew no bounds as Bishop Wilfred Anagbe commissioned a borehole sponsored by Makurdi Diocese for the community in appreciation for the 14 hectares of land it has donated to the Church.

The commissioning ceremony which was preceded by a Eucharistic celebration was attended by prominent sons and daughters of the community who expressed appreciation to the church for coming to the aid of the people who have been neglected by successive governments in Benue State.

The Bishop had earlier commissioned a bridge across River Fete.  The construction of the bridge was initiated by the late Father Joseph Gor and was eventually completed by the community after the murder of the priest along with many parishioners.

By Bonny Ella

The saying that one good turn deserves another has been brought to life in Mbakyor Community of Gwer East Local Government Area, Benue State, whose joy knew no bounds as Bishop Wilfred Anagbe commissioned a borehole sponsored by Makurdi Diocese for the community in appreciation for the 14 hectares of land it has donated to the Church.

The commissioning ceremony which was preceded by a Eucharistic celebration was attended by prominent sons and daughters of the community who expressed appreciation to the church for coming to the aid of the people who have been neglected by successive governments in Benue State.

The Bishop had earlier commissioned a bridge across River Fete.  The construction of the bridge was initiated by the late Father Joseph Gor and was eventually completed by the community after the murder of the priest along with many parichoned.

The bridge connects Ayar-Mbalom to the rest of the world.  It was completed under the guidance of Engr David Naakaa who had worked on the project with the late Father Gor.

Bishop Anagbe who expressed appreciation to the people for their generosity to the diocese noted that the borehole was a sign of good things to come to communities that have embraced Christianity with sincerity.

It will be recalled that the people of Mbakyor had donated 14 hectares of land to the diocese of Makurdi in January 2018 to be used for any project that would bring development to the community.

The President of Mbakyor Sons in Diaspora, Mr. Boniface Ishongu expressed happiness over the gesture and assured the bishop that no member of the community will for any reason take the land from the Church as the gift has been consented to by the entire community.

The youth leader of the community, Mr. Ter-Kusa also assured the Church that they would do their best to prevent encroachment on the land by members of the community both now and in future and expressed happiness that with the donation, development has started coming to the area the same way the Church has done in places that it has been welcomed. The commissioning took place on January 27, 2019.

To those familiar with Pope Francis and his diplomatic finesse, this papal visit did not come as a total surprise. The agenda of inter-religious dialogue, reconciliation and unification has been his centre-piece since the inception of his papacy.
Even at that, the world was taken by storm when the pontiff arrived Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, to spend time on the Arabian Peninsula, the cradle of Islam.
Few papal visits have been quite so historically significant, momentous, and so widely welcomed.
For Pope Francis himself, the theme of this visit was “fraternity.” He thus described it as “marking a new page” in the history of dialogue between Christianity and Islam and meant to serve as a push-back against what he called a “strong temptation to see a clash between [the] Christian and Islamic civilizations.”
The United Arab Emirates, the Holy Father said, “is a crossroads between East and West, a multi-ethnic and multi-religious oasis,” and therefore well suited to serve as model for promoting the culture of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
The Pope’s visit curiously coincided with the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi’s visit to Sultan al- Malik al-Kamil, a situation the Holy Father ascribed to divine providence.
During the 39-hour visit, Pope Francis signed a fraternal Muslim-Catholic joint declaration condemning violence committed in the name of religion, which has been described as “historic, seeing that such a move was utterly unthinkable only a few years ago.
“It was an extremely spiritual experience for many,” observed Bishop Paul Hinder, the Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, who described the visit as a “special grace,” saying he was overwhelmed at the welcome the Holy Father received from the Mammoth crowd that attended this open air mass he celebrated in Abu Dhabi.
For the UAE, whose government had been working toward the papal visit for years, the trip served to underscore their drive to portray an image of tolerance and openness in the Arabian Peninsula, which for centuries was closed to other religious and forbade churches. Today, nearly a million Catholics, all immigrants, live in the century of over nine million people.
The ground-breaking papal visit lasted from February 3 to 5th, 2019.

As Nigerians prepare to go to the polls this Saturday, February 16, 2019, speculations have reached fever peaks, with a polarized electorate seemingly evenly divided among two major actors: the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari and Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Whereas many are prepared to go with the continuity mantra, citing Buhari’s anti-corruption war and his at combating unemployment, in the other camp, the supporters of Atiku Abubakar put forward a vision of rapid economic transformation under the direction of a seasoned successful businessman. This is why the counsel of the Catholic Bishop’s of Nigeria, is expedient.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, has called on Nigerians to do all within their power to ensure the country remains united and peaceful during the forthcoming general elections and beyond.

This is even as the clerics directed all faithful across Nigeria to fast and pray for three days this week in order to avert crises during the polls.

The directive was issued in a press statement jointly signed by Archbishop Augustine Akubeze, and Bishop Camillus Umoh, the CBCN President and Secretary respectively, and made available to DAILY POST in Abuja this weekend.

The Bishops said: “The general elections are by the corner. Expectedly, there is a lot of anxiety. These elections should therefore be for us a time for sober reflection on our future as a people.

“We should further reflect on how to keep our country and our people united and peaceful. With the resources available to us as a country, we can achieve this. The world is looking up to us and expecting much from us.

“We appeal to the Security Agencies and INEC to rise up to their duties and responsibilities to ensure that we have peaceful, free, fair and credible elections.

 “We nevertheless reiterate that the primary responsibility for this lies with the government. We urge the relevant bodies to put our nation before any other consideration.

“We appeal to the people to put cynicism aside and go out to cast their votes on Election Day, guided by their conscience. We must therefore think very carefully, because electing our leaders comes with moral obligations and responsibilities.

“We invite our fellow countrymen and women to turn to God in these trying times. Let us continue in prayer for those who are in politics, especially those of them who are seeking elective positions.

 “And to those our brothers and sisters either already in office or seeking to be elected, we say, be effective witnesses to TRUTH and LIGHT for the common good otherwise we invite you to bow out.

“Conscious of the power of prayers in times like these, we therefore direct all Catholics to fast and pray for three days; 13-15 February 2019.”

The gladiators have signed an accord to accept the result of the result of presidential election and held their last campaign with the incumbent Mohammadu Buhari addressing the nation.  Whether this last minutes scrabbling for the votes of undecided voters will change the change, Saturday, February 16, 2019 remains a red-letter day for Nigeria’s political history.

To quite a few concerned observers, as Nigeria prepares to go to the polls in the General Elections, she could as well be hurtling toward the dangerous cliff of political doom. These prophets of doom advance as the basis of their misgivings the presence of desperate politicians who readily sacrifice party ideology and manifesto on the altar of personality cult; who engage in verbal exchanges indistinguishable from diatribe and ribaldry; who enlist the services of twits and sycophants to humour and dance attendance on them; who recruit from the pool of unemployed youths thugs typecast for doomsday scripts; and who glibly shy away from constructive dialogue for fear of exposing their ignorance of the reality of the common man in their midst. The pundits think this is a deadly recipe.

Well, to the here and now. A sampling of popular opinion readily unveils two major gladiators in the 2019 arena: the incumbent and purposeful PMB on the one hand; and the redoubtable Atiku Abubakar on the other. The oracles have already began their divinations with characteristic Delphian ambivalence: the final result will go either way! In layman’s terms, either Buhari will win or Atiku will win! A fifty-fifty situation. The double-edged sword of public justice hangs above either candidate’s fate.

Buhari’s Anti-corruption war is a plus for him, even though this credential fades in the face of total lack of security under his government and his inability to effectively bring a turn-around in the economy of the country, and failure to provide much-needed employment opportunities for layers of unemployed Nigerians.

To many, Atiku holds a hope. As a seasoned and successful businessman, many opine that he will bring that wealth of experience to bear on tackling the country’s economic woes. Others, however, fear that he is only an other side of the same coin, that he will turn out to be a re-enactment, of the old Nigerian story of soja-go-soja-come. “The casket might be removed”, they say, “but the bier will remain” to haunt the Nigerian dream.

All said and done, Nigerians appear to be caught between a rock and a hard place.

The verve and desperate means to which these gladiators have resorted in their campaigns gives one the impression that the Saturday February 16, 2019 polls will not reflect the mood of Valentine’s day that will be celebrated two days prior. The breakdown of diplomacy suggests that the gladiators are set for a fight-to-the-finish.

For our part, we are trying to perfect the balancing act even as we live in daily fear of the unknown. Until the election is won and lost can we let out a sigh of relief, and even then only jerkily. Will the election be free and fair? Will the victor be congratulated and his victory accepted? Or will the dust remain hanging over the battlefield?

We can only hope and pray that whoever emerges victorious will not lose sight of the plight of Nigerians but seek to address the issues highlighted in the presidential debates and at other platforms. These issues of corruption, security, unemployment and the economy demand urgent attention and must not be jettisoned in the fight of leadership.

This election remains an acid test for our democracy. How it is concluded and received by Nigerians will be the test of our democratic maturation.

Nigeria is an ambulant orthopedic patient attempting a dangerous acrobatic display on a precipice.

God save Nigeria!