An Anglican church pastor who was about to get
married to his bride, has received the shock of
his life as the wedding is cancelled at dying
minute.
Illustrative photo
Serious controversy erupted in All Saints Anglican
Cathedral, Abakaliki, yesterday when the wedding
between a priest and his bride (names withheld)
was abruptly cancelled by the Cathedral’s
authority over the groom‘s alleged misconduct
with ladies.
The priest is serving in the Cathedral while his
bride hails from Umuchoke Mbaitolu, Imo State.
According to a source, the couple had
successfully celebrated their traditional marriage
last Wednesday at the bride’s hometown in Imo
State.
They were already seated with some of their
guests in the Cathedral about 9:25a.m waiting for
the wedding service to commence when one of
the priests in the church, Ven. Kingsley Okoro,
came in and announced that the wedding would
no longer hold and asked everyone to go home.
Okoro, who said that the directive to stop the
wedding came from ‘above’, did not disclose the
reason for the cancellation of the wedding.
The celebrants were visibly shocked by the
announcement even as their guests left the
church in bewilderment.
It was not clear why the wedding was aborted by
the Cathedral’s authority but Sunday Sun
gathered that a complaint bothering on infidelity
was lodged last Friday night against the priest.
One of the parishioners, who simply gave her
name as Helen, told a source that when she
sought to know the reason behind the cancellation
of the wedding, she was told by some
parishioners close to the church authority that a
girl the priest was dating lodged a complaint last
Friday night to stop the wedding.
She said: “We are actually shocked and confused
as you can see. “I was told that the groom had a
girlfriend and that he promised to marry her but
decided to settle down with another girl, which is
the bride. They also told me that the girl reported
the matter to our Bishop.
“They also said that the girl presented a picture of
where the groom was smoking with some girls
during her complaint to the Bishop. So, that is
what they said that stopped the wedding and as
you can see, some guests have started going
back to where they came from,” she added.
She alleged that the groom was also accused of
some bad behaviours including smoking and
mingling with prostitutes.
Meanwhile, a notable evangelist who does not
want his name in print said that the wedding of
the couple had earlier been put on hold.
“They would have wedded two years ago but
because of the groom’s lifestyle which landed him
in a police case, the wedding could not hold,” he
said. He disclosed that Grace had as a result
quit the relationship but only reconciled with him
few weeks ago and they re-scheduled the
wedding.
“Since the church said that the wedding cannot
hold, there is nothing we can do. The only thing
is that the directive to stop the wedding came
very late,” he added.
When contacted, the priest declined comment.
Also, the Bishop of the Cathedral, Rt. Rev. Monday
Nkwoagu refused to speak with newsmen who
visited the Bishop’s court for his reaction.
He, however, directed a security guard to inform
journalists that the matter was a church affair and
as such there was no need reacting to it.
Some guests at the wedding service before it was
aborted included former Minister of State for
Power and Steel, Chief Goddy Ogbaga and Deputy
Chief of Staff, Government House, Abakaliki,
Professor Fidelis Okpata, among other dignitaries.
Disappointed over the development, they left the
church after waiting for some time to know if the
church would rescind its decision.
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