The Knights of St. Mulumba of the Umuahia Catholic Church have distanced themselves from the position by a group, the Catholic Network of Nigeria (CNN) requesting removal of the Owerri Appeal Court judges due to what it called ‘lack of confidence’ on them.
Reacting to the media campaign in which the protesting group is calling for a change of the Appeal court judges, the Liaison Grand knight of Umuahia, Sir Nwanevu Christopher said the Catholic Church is not a partisanorganization and does not support partisan politics or the aspiration of any political party.
According to him, what the Catholic Church does is to ‘advise politicians to play by the rules just as it did before the last elections by inviting candidates of various political parties to say what they intend to do for the people.’
To that end, he said that ‘the Catholic Church has nothing to do with the decisions of the court and does not set up groups to interfere in such matters’, adding that the Catholic Church ‘has no right to direct the actions of judges of a court.’
He further made it clear that the said group, CNN, is not known or directed by the church to embark on such protest, stressing that the Catholic Church ‘cannot support the protest or be part of the campaign of calumny.’
Sir Nwanevu stated that no Catholic bishop or church member ‘will support the ugly act,’ maintaining that the Catholic Church will react to the development.
Also reacting to the issue, the chief press secretary to the Governor, Mr. Godwin Adindu said investigations reveal that the group is ‘a contraption by desperate politicians of the opposition All
Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to drag the church into unnecessary politics.’
According to him, the aim of the group is ‘to use the name of the church to settle political scores,’ which he described as ‘ungodly.’
The Abia state government, therefore, called on the Catholic institution in the state and country to rise in condemnation of the ill- conceived attempt by ‘some infinitesimal group in Bende community to drag its name to the mud.’
The government also called on all institutions of knights of the Catholic Church and other constituted authorities, the council of bishops of the church to ‘stand up and defend the sacred institution of God’, and urge the chief justice of Nigeria, the Appeal court and the entire judiciary to ‘ignore the ranting of the faceless group.’
