A video circulating on social media showed a man whose facial features matched one of the fake bishops that attended the unveiling of vice presidential candidate of APC, Shettima, paraded at the popular Dei-dei market in Abuja on Saturday.
The man identified as “Rev Chika” is said to be a plumber, and an indigene of Agulu in Anambra, according to the account of Facebook user Sunday Adeniran.
“Today at Dei-Dei building materials market in Abuja, this clergyman was molested and beaten when they identified him as one of the clergymen who attended the unveiling of Shettima as Tinubu’s running mate.
“His name is Rev Chika. He hails from Agulu in Anambra state,” Mr Adeniran wrote on his wall.
“Bishop! Fake bishop! That’s one of the bishops Tinubu used,” screamed some of the people that paraded Mr Chika, who walked with his head down.
While some commenters condemned the parade, arguing the traders should not have harassed him, others said Mr Chika deserved the harsh treatment for making a mockery of the Christian faith.
Witnesses said Mr Chika was rescued by a police team on patrol in the area. A spokesman for the police in Abuja did not immediately have information about whether suspects were arrested after the hoodlums were dispersed.
According to report by Peoples Gazette, Joseph Odaudu, another impostor, had disclosed that Tinubu’s hirelings broke a mutual agreement to be paid N100,000 for the shady job but only paid N40,000.
The fake bishops had appeared in a cassock to give Christian voters a false impression that Tinubu’s choice of picking a Muslim northerner as his running-mate for the 2023 general elections was accepted by Christian leaders despite strong criticism from the Christian community and opinion leaders in the country.