The wedding between Rev. Elvis Opune of All Saints Anglican Cathedral Abakaliki, Ebonyi State and Grace Chika Olunze of Umuchoke Mbaitolu, Imo State was aborted by the authorities of the church over alleged double dating.
Opune, his bride, and guests had seated inside the church ultra-modern building at 9.30am for the wedding when one of the priests, Ven. Kingsley Okoro, came in to announce that the wedding will no longer hold and asked everyone in the church to leave.
Okoro, who said that the directive to stop the wedding came from ‘above’, did not, however, disclose
the reason for the cancellation of the wedding.
The cancellation shocked the parishioners, guests and priests inside the church as they came out and started discussing the matter in groups.
One of the parishioners, who simply gave her name as Helen, however, told Sunday Vanguard that Opune had been accused of dating a girl. The girl was said to have lodged a complaint on Friday night that the priest was dating her and dumped her after promising her marriage.
Meanwhile, a popular evangelist, who pleaded anonymity, said Opune and Grace should have wedded two years ago but could not because of undisclosed reason.
He noted that Grace, because of the matter, decided to quit the relationship but later reconciled with the pastor and they rescheduled their wedding for yesterday.
When contacted, Opune declined comments. Also, the bishop of the cathedral, Rt. Rev. Monday Nkwoagu, refused to give Vanguard reporter audience when he visited the Bishop’s Court for his reaction.
The guests, including a former Minister of State for Power and Steel, Chief Goddy Ogbaga, and the Deputy Chief of Staff, Government House, Abakaliki, Professor Fidelis Okpata, left the church after waiting for some time to know if the church will make a u-turn on the wedding.
The prospective couple had celebrated their traditional marriage last Wednesday at the bride’s home town in Imo State.
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