Vigilantes in Nnewi, Anambra State, have arrested Sir James Louis Okoye, a former Catholic Knight of St John International, over an alleged ritual cleansing exercise in the town.
Okoye was arrested on Saturday after he was seen on the streets wearing a red dress, with fresh palm fronds in his mouth and a bell in hand. He reportedly said he was performing a cleansing of Nnewi land because the community had been desecrated.
In a short video of his interrogation at a vigilante office, the former knight insisted he had done nothing wrong and that the exercise was “for the good of Nnewi town.”
Okoye first drew public attention in January during the official consecration of Our Lady of Assumpta Catholic Cathedral, Nnewi. He renounced his knighthood, removed his shoes and hat, and walked out of the cathedral shouting “Ifeanyi Ubah ndo.” At the gate he dusted his shoes and shouted “Akachaam,” a sign, he said, that he was done with Christianity.
He had decried the non-recognition of late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, who he believed built the cathedral to near completion before his death.
The incident has sparked mixed reactions online, with some commenters questioning his mental state. Police have yet to comment on the matter.
