From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
The partial demolition of Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention Church presided over by controversial pastor, Prophet Chukwuemeka Ohanemere popularly known as Odumeje on Thursday has elicited varied reactions from members of the public since the incident happened.
The Anambra State Task Force set up by the Soludo administration towards restoring the greater Onitsha Urban Renewal project had pulled down part of the building housing the church office and security house, the church fence and the generator house close to the Nwangene Sakamori stream.
In the process of pulling down the structures, Pastor Odumeje stormed the church and tried to stop the team from carrying out the exercise. In the ensuing melee, he was rough handled and slapped by one of the security personnel attached to the taskforce.
The attack on Odumeje by the security personnel has drawn several flaks from the public with many saying that it was an act of overzealousness on the part of the security officer to rough handle the pastor.
An elder in the church, Chief Increase Ozoemena told Saturday Sun that the church was never built on the drainage system as people were made to believe.
He said that mountains of refuse dump littering the Fegge area and lack of commitment on the part of the government to de-silt the drainage of accumulated debris that blocked water flow should be blamed for any danger and not the church, which he said was built far away from the drainage channel. Ozoemena, who addressed himself also as a human rights activist said, Pastor Odumeje ‘s fundamental human rights have been breached while the assault meted on him like a common criminal will boomerang on whomever that committed such.
He lamented that security personnel armed to the teeth and kitted with dangerous weapons were unleashed on the church for no reason as if it was in a war situation.
“A slap on Pastor Odumeje is a slap on the entire Igbo. This is a man of God of international repute, a philanthropist that has lifted many people out of poverty and solved many of their spiritual needs. Look at what they did to him. Those who did this will pay dearly. A huge compensation must be paid to this ministry and to the prophet for this inhuman treatment,” Ozoemena said