The Cross River State Police Command on Sunday, halted an ongoing service at the Chapel of Redemption Church, situated inside the campus of the University of Calabar, over leadership tussle.
Key Highlights
- Police halt church service over leadership tussle.
- Incident occurred at University of Calabar.
- Police warned of possible violence and bloodshed.
- DCP Godwin Etim ordered the service stopped.
- Two factions have been summoned for dialogue.
Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Godwin Etim, who led a team of police officers to the church premises, said intelligence at the disposal of the police indicate that allowing the service to continue could result in violence.
He thereafter ordered the ongoing service to end abruptly, saying that “my duty first as a police officer is to protect lives and property. From what I have seen, if I allow the service to continue, it might lead to bloodshed in this church.”
Etim told journalists at the church premises that he has engaged all the contending parties in the leadership tussle before taking the action.
“I have spoken to the two reverends, to the two chaplains and I had also spoken to the members of the board of trustees, and they all agreed that the service should wind to an end, because of the tension.
“You can see by yourself what has been going on here, so if we don’t apply this strategy now, a fight might break out,” he explained.
The deputy commissioner of police added that calm has been restored and both factions have been summoned for dialogue.
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“We have invited both factions to our office tomorrow by 12 noon to enable us to rub minds with them, and to look at the issues raised and to see if there are solutions we can proffer to it,” he further stated.
“But for now, they have to leave the church so that there won’t be any loss of lives and property and violence of any type.”
Before the police action, tension had heightened during the 8 a.m. service when some key church leaders, reportedly restrained by a court order from interfering with the rights of the embattled chaplain, Rev. Dr. Joseph Ushie, stormed the church.
The leaders, said to be loyal to the interim chaplain, Rev. Israel Eyo, sat close to Ushie, a move Ushie’s supporters allegedly misconstrued as an attempted takeover, throwing the congregation into a rowdy session.
To avert a breakdown of law and order, Etim ordered the shutdown.
