A Catholic priest in Anambra State has allegedly beaten up a 50-year-old school teacher in Ifitedunu, a community in Dunukofia Local Government Area of the state.
The cleric, Jude Muokwe, was said to have flogged the teacher, Maureen Ikeorah, a widow, on the allegation that she called a meeting of teachers to demand for salary increase.
Mrs Ikeorah teaches at St. Gabriel’s Primary School in Ifitedunu, which is owned by the Catholic Diocese of Awka and managed by the priest.
The incident happened on Wednesday.
How it happened
PREMIUM TIMES obtained a video clip which showed Mrs Ikeorah accusing the priest of flogging her mercilessly.
“Father (the Catholic priest) came to my classroom this morning, dragged me out, flogged and slapped me repeatedly,” Mrs Ikeorah was heard saying in the clip uploaded on Facebook.
She spoke in Igbo language while crying uncontrollably.
Asked what the cleric said was her offence, she responded: “He came to class and asked me who called teachers to a meeting and I replied to him that I did not call a meeting for teachers. And he started beating me.”
The clip showed injuries on her body allegedly inflicted on Mrs Ikeorah by the Catholic priest during the beating.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the Catholic priest, Mr Muokwe, did not deny the incident when some reporters contacted him on Monday.
But he declined to comment on the incident.
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“I cannot speak to you, I can’t speak, especially to someone I do not know about this matter,” the priest was quoted to have said on Monday.
The cleric’s phone number was unavailable when our reporter phoned him on Tuesday afternoon.
Catholic Church fumes
The leadership of the Catholic Diocese of Awka has condemned the incident.
In a statement on Monday, the Chancellor of the diocese, Charles Ndubuisi, said the diocese regrets the “unfortunate incident.”
“We promise to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident and the extent of violation of the ethical standard established by the diocese for all diocesan schools, and apply immediate disciplinary actions,” said Mr Ndubuisi, also a Catholic priest.
The chancellor said the diocese upholds “integrity of character and respect of all” and cannot condone any misconduct in any of their schools.
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