Catholic Diocese of Nsukka Fires Back at Governor Mbah's Administration over Ogige Market Demolition Tragedy and Reaffirms Non-Partisan Stance

NSUKKA, NIGERIA — The brewing institutional conflict between the religious leadership of the Nsukka cultural zone and the Enugu State Government has escalated into a major public confrontation. The Catholic Diocese of Nsukka has released a highly powerful, formal institutional disclaimer titled "Catholic Diocese of Nsukka is Not Partisan," systematically rebuking the media team of Governor Peter Mbah for attempting to blackmail and intimidate the Church.

​The direct intervention, dated June 12, 2026, and signed by the Diocesan Director of Communications, Fr. Emmanuel I. Asadu, comes as a swift counter-response to a lengthy public defense authored by Mr. Reuben Onyishi, the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Governor. The Church expressed profound regret that the governor's aide chose to drag the name of the Catholic Bishop, Most Rev. Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, into a highly weaponized political narrative, describing Onyishi's public assertions as both uncharitable and deliberately misleading.

​Giving critical context to the Bishop's recent viral remarks, the Diocese revealed that the prelate was speaking directly from a place of intense pastoral grief during the burial ceremony of a revered local catechist, John Attah. According to the official disclosure, Mr. Attah tragically suffered a fatal stroke and passed away in the direct aftermath of the sudden, state-enforced demolition of his family shop and livelihood at the iconic Ogige Market in Nsukka.

​The Church added a chilling confirmation that the deceased catechist is merely the latest addition to a rapidly growing list of local citizens who have reportedly lost their lives under highly similar, stressful circumstances following the mass market evictions. The Diocese clarified that the Bishop’s message was a direct, raw expression of his core pastoral responsibility to comfort his flock and speak for the dead, rather than a calculated partisan campaign stunt.

​The statement further delivered a stern, uncompromising warning to the political actors occupying the Lion Building in Enugu. The Diocese reminded the public and government media aides alike that the fundamental duty of a shepherd is to fearlessly speak out against systemic injustice and the raw suffering of the masses, completely irrespective of whether the executive action stems from a political friend, an ally, or a total stranger.

​Fiercely asserting its spiritual autonomy, the Church declared that it will never abdicate its moral responsibility to raise the collective voice of conscience when ordinary citizens have their entire means of economic survival completely destroyed without an adequate, fair, and transparent resettlement plan.

​Fr. Asadu pointedly urged Governor Mbah’s media handlers to immediately refrain from deploying low-level political tactics, intimidation, and emotional blackmail to score cheap political points or curry executive favor, noting that no amount of sugar-coating or political rhetoric can ever erase the devastating, lived reality of the displaced Nsukka traders. The Nsukka Diocese concluded its powerful manifest by reaffirming its historic, unshakeable commitment to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the suffering masses while continuously guiding the conscience of public office holders, whose spiritual salvation it notes remains a core part of the shepherd's duty.