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Shock and disbelief enveloped the parish priest and the entire faithful of St. Gregory's Parish Ikpayongo, Benue State when they discovered that the young man whom they had received as a Catholic seminarian turned out to be a duper.
The fake seminarian, Mr Patrick Aondoaver Iortyer arrived the parish at the same time the faithful had brought home their son, Father Japhet Asaki for a reception after his priestly ordination at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral Makurdi by his Grace Augustine Kasujja.
He had told some of the parish officials on his arrival that he was a friend to the new priest and the unsuspecting officials believed and attended to him as a seminarian.
One of the parish officials who narrated how the scene unfolded to our correspondent noted that Mr. Iortyer couched his gimmicks so cleverly that no one entertained any doubts about his true position during the reception.
However, a cloud of suspicion started hovering over his claims when he could not interact freely with the seminarians at the parish house, but continually remained aloof.
“He was also looking dirty. He was interacting more with the ladies at the parish. None of the seminarians knew him and he also maintained his aloofness throughout the day,” the source said.
The climax of the drama came on Sunday, “when the new priest was about to start his first mass-and the fake seminarian quickly put on his soutane and attempted to join the priests at the altar. It was at this point that some of the seminarians intercepted him and requested for his identity card, which he lied he had forgotten. The parish priest was alerted and he was quickly taken to the parish house for further interrogation, with the MOD men guarding him as the rest returned for the start of the mass,” one of the seminarians said.
Shortly after the mass, Father Asaki, who the impostor claimed he knew, was invited to identify him but he put a disclaimer on his person.
With the crowd now swelling, it dawned on the fake seminarian that his pranks were over. The bag he was carrying was withdrawn from him, condoms and fake identity cards were discovered from it. As if that was not enough proof, the self-proclaimed seminarian, who at this point was speaking like a frightened war prisoner told the crowd that he was a seminarian with the orthodox congregation, but while the crowd was yet to absorb what he said, he again said that he was a Franciscan Seminarian, at this point the crowd became furious and impatient with him. He was threatened. It was at this point that he confessed that he was a duper.
The Parish Priest, of St. Gregory's Parish Ikpayongo, Father Donatus Ugema later handed Mr Iortyer over to the police for further interrogation and appropriate sanction.
But Patricks gimmicks are far from being new, last year, one Jude Chinnonso, an ex-seminarian deceived the Parish Priest and the entire faithful of St. Theresa's Parish , Nguru in Ngor, Okpala local government area of Delta State into believing that he was ordained a Catholic deacon in Rome by Pope Francis. The unsuspecting parishioners gave him a rousing welcome before he was later found out in Lagos while attempting to play the same tricks on another parish priest.
Similarly, last year, on July 19, 2013 another fake priest was nabbed while attempting to celebrate requiem mass at the burial of the late Dechier Byuan, in Konshisha local government area of Benue State. The fake priest, called Father Dan without a clear surname, had been parading himself as a priest for long time.
The Catholic faithful must be careful when receiving people claiming to be priests or seminarians especially now that the security of the country is groggy and there are legions of terrorists disguising as priests to unleash mayhem on innocent citizens. We are encouraged to be kind but “kindness is not stupidity.”
PIX(The fake Seminarian,
Mr Patrick Aondoaver Iortyer)
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