7th February, 2011
Members of Diocese of Umuahia (Anglican Communion) have embarked on a week long prayer to seek for God’s intervention in the state as the 2011 general elections approach.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the warriors divided into groups and companies praying at important monuments, markets as well as the around Government House in Umuahia, the state capital.
Rev. Samuel Nduka told NAN that the church was praying “because there is so much evil and unrighteousness in the land from the highest cadre to the lowest.â€
The clergy said that it had become imperative for the people to pray for God to choose a man after His heart to lead the state, “because the people are suffering.
“There are lots to be done including a display of righteousness because the general suffering of the people is unacceptable,†he said, adding that there was nothing to prove that Abia was God’s Own State.
Earlier, the Umuahia branch of the Nigeria Pensioners Association had also marched round major streets of Umuahia, chanting songs of redemption and also praying at strategic locations for God to intervene in their predicament. Mr Gabriel Osonwa said that the pensioners were asking for three months of pension allowances owed them and also the harmonization of their pension gratuity which spanned several years.
“Our members are dying in their numbers due to lack of money to pay hospital bills,†he said. Osonwa said that leadership in Abia lacked human face and urged residents of the state to be wary of the people they choose during the elections. Reacting, a staff of the Abia Ministry of Finance,who spoke in confidence, said that government had just paid their backlog of allowances.
