Group Accuses Anambra Govt Of Vendetta Over Arrest, Arraignment Of Bishop Nwankpa
Ikemba Front, the flagship political support structure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra has described the arrest and arraignment of Bishop Emeka Nwankpa, one of its patrons as a political witchhunt.
Chief Arinzechukwu Awogu, the National Coordinator of Ikemba Front who made the condemnation in a Statement on Tuesday. called for immediate discontinuation of the matter.
Nwankpa, the presiding Bishop of Chapel of Faith Bible Assembly International, 3-3 Onitsha was arraigned last Friday alongside seven others before an Anambra High Court by the State government on the allegation that they were fake clergy who stage-managed miracles.
Ikemba Front which dismissed the claim said associating a man like Bishop Nwankpa with fake miracles and of being a fake man of God was incendiary.and a move which put a question mark on the complicity of each of other accused clerics.
He said the state government was whimsical and desperate in its decision to arrest and arraign Bishop Nwankpa.
“I advise that the case should be discontinued and a nolle prosequi be entered immediately by the State government to save itself from opprobrium and further embarrassment.
“We are aware of the state government’s uneasiness following Bishop Nwankpa’s political leanings, we want to caution that state resources should not be deployed into pursuing vendetta.
“As far as we can see, this whole gamut is political vendetta. Bishop Emeka Nwankpa has been very active politically and was with us in APC before moving to his new political party.
“His works and dispositions are well known, he is more of a humanist than a pastor and his journey through life is a testimony on its own, all of which humbled him to the pulpit.
“He is my in-law, I married from his place. I know him from his village in Isiala-Ngwa, and so do thousands of people in Anambra,” he said.
Awogu said Bishop Nwankpa was only an Ngwa man from Abia State who opposed the style of governance of the present administration in Anambra and could not be accused of being a fake man of God or staging fake miracles.
According to him, when institutional processes are reduced to personal vendetta, it shifts focus from legitimate principles and facts to bitter, subjective retaliation, which often derails productive outcomes.
“It comes with petty drama or targeted attacks just as we witnessed in the scenario playing out in the case of Bishop Nwankpa,” he said.
Awogu alleged that there were known threats to bring down Nwankpa’s Church as a consequence for supporting the APC governorship candidate during the last governorship election.
He wondered why dissenting political views should attract unfair targeting of individuals or political opponents under the guise of investigation or law.
He said the persecution of Nwankpa by the administration of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo was driven by political motives rather than substantial evidence.
“It is aimed at damaging reputations, suppressing dissent, eliminating rival opinions and ultimately stifling democracy and public trust,” he said.
