AKWA Ibom State has in the last two weeks been
in the news for incidents bordering on the tragic.
Particularly still a talking point days after was the
collapse of Reigners Bible Church International
located at Uyo village Road, Uyo which led to
loss of lives and several others injured.
While families of the victims mourned their
losses, the state government had responded by
taking proactive measures to ensure that those
who survived the unfortunate incident were
properly taken care of.
However, even this gesture was not enough to
stop controversy from rearing its head with
issues being raised about the alleged culpability
of certain individuals with regards to the incident.
But more pronounced presently is the seeming
persistent question of why nothing much is
being said about the condition and whereabouts
of the founder of the collapsed church, Akan
Weeks, who was supposed to be ordained as a
Bishop on the day of the unfortunate incident.
Weeks who many eyewitnesses said escaped
unhurt alongside many other ministers of the
Gospel who attended the ceremony last week
spoke through Planet FM Radio, Uyo claimed that
he sustained injuries and was hospitalized. He
however did not mention the name of the
hospital where he is receiving medical treatment.
He had also debunked widespread speculations
that he had gone to Ikot Ekpene where he was
secretly ordained despite the disaster. He even
gave up on the bishopric enthronement saying
that he was no longer interested.
“Let nobody believe the speculation that I was
enthroned as the bishop; the enthronement was
cancelled completely and I am not interested.
Please, this is not the time to crucify me; I’m still
your brother. Reigners Church family, I’m still
your Pastor.
“The enthronement was cancelled completely and
I am not interested. Please let us rise and pray. I
really sympathise with the departed soul. Once
I’m out of my hospital bed, I will come on air
and we will pray together. I was also seriously
injured. One of my legs was seriously damaged,”
he had said.
Expectedly this had generated heated argument
among members of the public in the State capital
who till today believe that he was not being
sincere about his condition.
Failure of the state government to disclose the
hospital Weeks was being treated even made
matters worse. Accordingly, some of the citizens
had even visited the hospitals government had
listed as where most of the survivors who
sustained injuries, including some members of
the State Executive Council and aides to the
governor, were admitted but Pastor Akan
Weeks was not there. Government had listed the
University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, UUTH, Ibom
Specialist Hospital Uyo and General Hospital
Anua Offot, Uyo.
A civil servant who did not mention his name,
however expressed sadness over the
development thus: “We were told that some
government officials sustained injuries and had
been treated, that even most of them have been
discharged. Some people, including journalists,
saw them. But the only person who claimed to
also had sustained injury during that disaster and
who put that event in place was not seen
anywhere. So where is Akan Weeks?”
Publishers of state based Newspaper Publishers
were also at the designated hospitals on Monday
on fact finding mission. The Publisher of Town
Crier, Mr. Ernest Akpan, told Vanguard Metro that
they actually went to find out if government has
done the things that it said it had done towards
saving the lives of those affected in the church
building collapse considering the controversies
that erupted in its wake.
“We went to find out things by ourselves. You
know there has been disparity in the reports over
the church building collapse, especially in the
casualty figures given by government and the
media. And it does not portray the image of the
state well.
“You are aware that there are insinuations that it
is only government officials affected in the
incident that were admitted at the Ibom Specialist
Hospital; so we went there to see if actually the
sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, sisters,
brothers of the nobody’s were there.
“We also wanted to find out if the claim by the
state government that it is giving free medical
treatment to the survivors is true. So those are
the reasons we embarked on fact-finding tour of
the hospitals. And we acknowledge that
government is keeping to its promise by doing
what it said it was doing in respect of the
accident victims,” he stressed.
Many people were even of the opinion that the
state governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, should
have ordered the arrest of the contractor as well
as the owner of the Church. Some were even
quick to conclude that the fact that the relevant
government authority did not arrest the owner of
the church (Akan Weeks) and also failed to say
anything about his condition till now clearly
indicated that it is in a conspiracy of silence over
his alleged culpability.
The Governor had during the Christmas Carol last
Saturday blamed the church building collapse on
human error. He said: “Last Saturday the roof of
a church building caved in while worship was
going on and this led to the death of 26 persons.
We have not fully recovered from the shock but
let us say that what fell was a church building
(man’s handiwork), not God’s promise.
“The collapse of the building was man’s error
and that is why we have set up a high-powered
panel of inquiry to determine what went wrong.
We are still standing on God’s promises. On
Christ, the solid rock, we still stand. This,
however, should serve as a reminder of God’s
faithfulness.
“We dedicated two days of mourning for the
souls of the departed, we activated the full
machinery and resources of Government to aid in
the rescue and evacuation of victims of the
tragedy and we have assured the victims’
families of government’s resolve to stand by and
with them during this time of mourning”.
Meanwhile, the religious group which planned the
foiled bishopric enthronement of Akan Weeks
under the aegis of Assembly of Charismatic
Ministers and Bishops of Nigeria, ACMB, are
insisting that enthronement of Akan Weeks as
Bishop would still be performed, but in 2017.
The group made this known in a press statement
made available to newsmen last week signed by
Archbishop Elijah Mboho and Prof. Ahaziah
Umanah, Founder/International adviser, and
President of ACMB, respectively.
In the statement the group said the ACMB, “the
College of Bishop that planned to carry out the
consecration and enthronement of Apostle Akan
weeks of the Reigners Bible Church, Uyo Village
Road, Uyo, wishes to condole with the Bishop-
elect, his family and his church on the
unfortunate tragedy that took place during the
service of the consecration and enthronement,
Saturday 10th December, 2016”.
The group added: “We also wish to console the
families of those who lost their loved ones during
that unfortunate tragedy that befell the Christian
community in Akwa Ibom Sate. We further
console and condole the Governor of Akwa Ibom
State, who was physically present in the church
during the tragic service, for the loss of lives of
citizens and any visitors to the state, who
attended the service.
“Finally, we wish to assure the Bishop-elect and
his family, the Reigners Bible Church and the
Christian community in Akwa Ibom State, that the
aborted consecration and enthronement shall be
consummated next year, 2017, when he and his
family, the church and the assembly, would have
picked the spiritual, emotional and physical
pieces, arising from that sad tragedy”.
