Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has wittingly court the wrath of the clergymen and members of the Apostolic Christian Church Mission (ACCM) Incorporated over his political meddlesome acts in the internal affairs of the church which has resulted in his sealing of the headquarters in Aba, Abia State since last December
By Our Correspondent
In the past 72 years, the first Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of every January, the first month of the year, have remained ever significant in the history of the Apostolic Christian Church Mission (ACCM) which headquarters is located on Omuma Road, Aba, Abia State. For members of the ACCM scattered in the over 1,000 branches of the prophetic ministry across the nation, and their pastors and Apostles, the first weekend of every year- Friday to Monday-is dedicated to thanking and worshipping God for His blessings and security over their lives and affairs. It is also a weekend during which the ACCM leadership takes stock of their church and branches in terms of rendering account of stewardship, as well as transfers of pastors across all the branches.
During this weekend annual event which is known formally as “Camp Meeting”, capable members of the church would travel from far and wide across the country to participate in the rare blessings of the ACCM Camp Meeting, and there appears to be a kind of new anointing from God Himself that would carry the members throughout that year.
Unfortunately for the ACCM members, the 2023 Camp Meeting was put on hold, not on account of their choice or making, but as a result of what many have described as governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s ruthless political meddlesome acts in the internal affairs of the church. Consequently, on December 31, 2022, following a protracted power tussle in the church orchestrated by political associates of Ikpeazu in the church, the governor had locked the ACCM headquarters at Omuma Road, Aba indefinitely.
Following his political moves against an innocent church, many detractors of Ikpeazu have argued that he has reinvented himself in Abia State as a replica of a ruthless and wicked Emperor of the ancient Roman Empire, Emperor Nero who mindlessly persecuted the early church but met his waterloo shortly after. In the same vein, many interest groups in the church and outside fear that Ikpeazu’s political future may end in disaster if curses being laid on him by the ministers of the ACCM for sealing their church come to pass. These observers expressed fear that there was no justifiable reason for Ikpeazu to seal the premises of the church except for his own political gains and those of his aides who wanted to foist an unqualified bishop on the church after the death of the last bishop, Nwaugbo last year.
Tentacle gathered that since 2015 when Ikpeazu became the governor of Abia State, despite not being a member of the ACCM, he has been meddling in the internal affairs of the church in order to massage the ego of his aides who wield undue influence in who becomes the next bishop of the church. According to information scooped by this medium, Ikpeazu’s foot soldiers since last year when bishop Nwaugbo died, had been plotting to install a political stooge as the next bishop of the church, a move that had met stiff resistance from the church leadership.
Information has it that Ikpeazu’s political associates and aides close to some politically inclined top shots of ACCM have since 2022, been plotting to deploy the governor Ikpeazu connection to foist a stooge loyal to Ikpeazu camp on the church as the next bishop. The politicization of ACCM by Ikpeazu and his goons came to a climax following the death of the last bishop in 2022.
At the prompting of his goons, Ikpeazu allegedly offered money for the burial of bishop Nwaugbo in a move interpreted by some as a ploy to hoodwink leaders of the church, and compel them to accept his (Ikpeazu) stooge as the next bishop. To Ikpeazu’s dismay, the leadership of ACCM headquarters allegedly resisted the foisting of a political stooge on the church as the reigning bishop.
Thus, on Saturday, December 31, 2022, Ikpeazu had sealed up the ACCM headquarters on trump up allegation that top officers of the church had been engaging in a free for all exchange of fisticuffs, and might kill one another in the process. But leaders of the church have since denied the allegation. Till date, members of the church are still waiting for Ikpeazu to reopen the church for them to converge and celebrate their 2023 Camp Meeting even though belatedly.
Having been pleading with Ikpeazu to reopen the church, while waiting endlessly to celebrate the ritual Camp Meeting, without any response from the governor, many clerics of the church comprising of pastors and Apostles who adorned white and black cassocks and carried different placards engaged in a road protest on Thursday, January 26, 2023 chanting solidarity songs along the Osisioma flyover in Aba, while raining curses on the Abia State governor for sealing a place of worship and refusing to open it after all entreaties to that effect.
One of the clergymen, Apostle Christopher Ogbuagu, who spoke on behalf of the rest clergymen, accused Ikpeazu of attempting to foist an unqualified member on the church as the bishop.
Ogbuagu said, “There’s a few of our church elders who are politicians and who are relatives of the state governor.
“Ikpeazu wants to foist an unpopular bishop on the church following the death of the former bishop”.
Efforts were made by Tentacle to speak with Mr Ememanka, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Ikpeazu as at press time, with several calls put to his phone which he kept pressing the busy button.
