4 priests brutally beaten by Enugu Govt Taskforce

4 Anglican priests, were on Friday allegedly brutally beaten by some members a task-force working with the Enugu State Housing Corporation. The victims were Reverends Collins Odoabuchi, Mbaka Peter, Eugene, and Maxwell Onyia. Others members of the church affected were Ekpecha Okechukwu and Naomi Ibekwe.

The incident, which is building up tension in Enugu, happened a week to the end of Governor Sullivan Chime’s administration.

It was gathered that trouble started when members of the task force, accompanied by armed policemen, invaded a parcel of land that belong to the Christ Church, Uwani, Anglican Communion, and tried to demolish it with 5 bulldozers without saying anything to them first. This invasion angered the priests and members of the church.

The Clerics were said to have tried to stop the Task force from carrying out the demolition exercise but were over powered by the government agents, who allegedly attacked the church leaders and mercilessly beat them up.

One of the victims, who gave her name as Naomi Ibekwe told journalists that she was hit with iron and stones, which left her with severe injuries bruises.

Fortunately, the State Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Abubakar Adamu, arrived at the the scene to stop the assault.

Reacting to the incident, the State Commissioner of Police, Adamu Mohammed, told the angry church leaders and their faithful that they should allow peace to reign as negotiation had begun. 

“We have discussed with the church. If anybody is injured, we will not take it lightly. We have already asked that a formal report be made and we will follow it up. We have agreed on a peace move and we are following it up”, he stated.

Also speaking, the Priest in-charge of the Christ Church, Venerable N. Aghadi said, 

“We have talked at length and discussed very progressively. “The Commissioner of Police is pleading that we should go home and rest. He has promised that the matter is in good hand and that immediately the Archbishop returns, he will have meeting with him”.

However, a source told Saturday Vanguard that the state government revoked the land with an intention to build an estate christened “Transparency Estate”.