TO FORGIVE IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY



A BROADCAST BY HIS EXCELLENCY, IKEDI OHAKIM, GOVERNOR OF IMO STATE, ON THE ENCOUNTER OF SECURITY DETAILS WITH REV. FR. EUSTACE OKORIE, ON SATURDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER, 2010



Fellow citizens of Imo State,

I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.



I want to address you on a matter that has inflamed passion in the state in the last few weeks. I refer to the unfortunate encounter of Rev Father Eustace Okorie with state security operatives on Sunday 8 August 2010.



Let me state that the unfortunate encounter was not to my knowledge. It was not ordered by me and did not receive my blessing. But the matter is such that, as a servant of the people, it is my burden to take responsibility. And I did exactly that.

Immediately the matter came to my knowledge, I went with the entire members of the Imo State Executive Council to the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri Archdiocese, His Grace, the Most Rev Anthony JV Obinna, to render an unreserved apology to Reverend Father Okorie and the Roman Catholic Church. I am glad that Archbishop Obinna clearly understood the circumstances and accepted our apology.



That notwithstanding, I hereby once more render an unreserved apology to Rev Father Okorie, the Roman Catholic Church, and to the entire Christians in Imo state and Nigeria.



I do so for two reasons. The first is that as a Christian, I respect ordained people of God, no matter the religion or denomination. My wife was born and bred a Roman Catholic. My mother was born and bred a Roman Catholic. I was raised as a God-fearing Anglican. I have solid Roman Catholics in my cabinet. I have many Roman Catholic priests and Bishops as my personal friends. So it is unthinkable that I would disrespect or order the humiliation of any man of God. The incident is unfortunate and saddens all of us.

The second reason I have to address this matter again is that soon after my apology to Archbishop Obinna, I travelled. In my absence, some mischief makers cashed in on the unfortunate incident to inflame passion through spurious and indecent publications in some newspapers. Like the Archbishop has done, we must denounce such aggravation and those behind it.



I also hereby denounce and dissociate myself and my government from such dangerous antics. Indeed, there is no level too low or too scurrilous for the authors of those satanic publications, rumour mongers and indecent political jobbers, to descend in pursuit of their nefarious designs to pull this State down.



The full page publication under a non-existent Catholic Women Forum has been traced to a former Governorship candidate in the State. We should all note that the Reverend was never stripped nor flogged by anybody.





Let me caution those who want to introduce religion or interdenominational war into an already crude politics of Imo State to stop. Religion and politics have never mixed well. We are all people of Faith. We have lived, married and interacted across denominational lines as one family.



Anybody or group who would provoke sectarian conflict in this state in the name of politics should regard himself as enemy of our people.



Those trying to play politics with the unfortunate incident are the same people whose terror tactics have turned the state into a war front and have therefore induced overreaction in the state security. Let us remember that in this part of the country, a private citizen used his convoy to run a sitting Governor out of the road. In this part of the country, a Governor was abducted from his office. In this part of the country, the official car of a Governor was sprayed with bullets. While not making excuses for any excesses by security men, I want to plead that we must all help in reducing tension in the State to make certain level of security alert unnecessary.

As a servant of the people, I know the burden I carry, knowing the character of politicians in this State. But I want to assure you that as much as necessary, I shall ensure that excesses like this do not occur again.



As Christians we are taught that to err is human; to forgive is not only divine, but our responsibility. Let us shame the devil; let us remember our Lord’s Prayer; let us put this ugly incident behind us and move on as one people not divided, but reinforced, by Faith. At the inception of this administration, we dedicated Imo State to God. We have been building the state together with the fear of God and respect for human dignity.



By the grace of God and with your prayers we shall not be distracted, especially as Imo remains in the hands of God.



Thank you and God bless!



Ikedi Ohakim

Governor

http://www.ikediohakim.com.ng/blog/full/?blogPost=24