Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, on Tuesday night led members of the State Executive Council, including his Deputy, Moses Ekpo, on a condolence visit to the family of Pastor Ezekiel Atang who died suddenly while on an evangelical mission to Onitsha on Sunday.
The governor expressed grief over the passage of the clergyman, describing him as a dependable friend, brother and credible pastor, whose demise was a colossal loss to the state and the Christian faith at large.
He prayed to God to comfort the wife, Mrs Dara Atang, and children. He alos advised the family to take solace in the fact that Ezekiel has gone to be with the Lord, although his demise has caused pain and grief.
“Honestly, I lack words. I got confused yesterday when I got the message during an official engagement in Abuja. My colleagues noticed what happened; I couldn’t recover at all but I summoned courage and strength.
‘’Pastor Ezekiel was one of the fewest credible pastors we have around here in all ramifications and it is just so painful. It is a difficult thing and if I feel this way, only God knows what the wife and children will feel,” the governor mourned.
Speaking on behalf of the bereaved family, Pastor Emmanuel Atang, elder brother to the deceased, described him as “the light that God raised to play the role of a father.”
Ezekiel, who until his death, was the Senior Pastor at God’s House of Refuge, is survived by his wife, Dara, and three children.
