Posted by By Austin Ogwuda on
THERE was pandemonium in a church in Asaba, on Sunday during the morning service, as one of the worshippers attempted to stab the officiating priest with a broken bottle over an undisclosed reason, leading to the worshippers scampering for safety.
ASABA - THERE was pandemonium in a church in Asaba, on Sunday during the morning service, as one of the worshippers attempted to stab the officiating priest with a broken bottle over an undisclosed reason, leading to the worshippers scampering for safety.
The ugly incident came on the heels of an earlier incident when a three-man gang suspected to be hired assassins abducted a Catholic priest at Issele-Uku, also in Delta State.
The Sunday incident took place at the Catholic Church of Assumption (Zappa parish) Asaba which is usually jampacked with Catholic faithfuls including top government officials, commissioners and legislators.
An eye witness told our reporter that the attacker (name withheld) who is said to be a son of a church warden in the same parish, almost stabbed the priest with a broken bottle right on the altar while the service was on.
The name of the priest who narrowly escaped death was given as the Reverend Father Calistus Elue.
According to an eye witness, "if not for the quick move made by some of the parishioners who tiptoed to the altar to quietly disarm him from behind, it probably could have been another story entirely as this boy could have spilled blood?, the witness said. He was said to have raised his hand to stab the priest when he was suddenly disarmed from behind.
Our reporter gathered that while the drama was going on, the congregation who had gathered for the 6:00am mass ran helter skelter.
The situation was however later brought under control after the boy was taken away.
Efforts to speak with the state police command's spokesman, Mr. Josephat Nwoye on the issue proved abortive as at the time of this report.
Recently a Catholic priest, Reverend Father Mario Dibie based at Issele-Uku, in Delta State was abducted.
He was allegedly lured out of his home at about 7:00pm through a distress call he received on his GSM handset asking him to come down to pray for a sick person at a certain clinic in Issele Uku.
Our reporter gathered that the Catholic priest who is well known for charismatic prayers, unknown to him drove out only to be waylaid by the three-man gang, who bundled him into their waiting car and beat him him to a pulp. He was later hospitalized.