By Evelyn Usman

The Christ Church, Anglican Communion, located in Uwani, Enugu state was last week in the news, following an alleged attack on four of its priests by members of the state’s Task Force Housing Development Corporation. Identities of the affected priests were given as Reverends Collins Odoabuchi, Mbaka Peter, Eugene, and Maxwell Onyia.

Also allegedly beaten to stupor were some members of the church identified as Ekpecha Okechukwu and Naomi Ibekwe.

Trouble reportedly started after attempt by the officials of the state’s Housing Development Corporation task force, went to clear the land belonging to the church was met with stiff resistance by the church .

While the church alleged that its members were attacked with dangerous weapons by members of the task force in the process, the latter described the claim as untrue.

Rather, Managing Director, Enugu State Housing Development Corporation, Vitalis Emeka Onah, told journalists that the church members allegedly unleashed mayhem on his men penultimate Friday.

According to Onah : “ The properties situated at Uwani, Enugu were leased by the Enugu State Government to the Anglican Communion church.
These properties were registered as No 43/43/778 dated 5/3/1946 and 27/27/273 dated 4/2/1961 and leased for 5 and 20years
respectively. The said leases were for educational and agricultural purposes only.  The leases had long elapsed without a renewal.

Following series of notices to the Anglican communion to that effect and their refusal to acknowledge the letters sent to them and coupled with the breach of covenant contained therein; non-development within the stipulated period; deviation from purpose clauses among others, the Enugu State government revoked the said lease agreements and duely notified the Anglican Communion.”

“The state followed due process in notifying the church and through t’s Housing Corporation led by the Director of Works, Mr Pius Chukwunta, it  entered the empty parcel of land with the intention of clearing the site and mounting it’s signpost “Transparency Estate”.

But upon entry into the land, he alleged that one of the Bishops and his men “swooped on our staff and beat them up. They approached the director of works, slapped him several times and hit him with a club, in the process of which he broke one of his arms.

Emboldened by the actions of their Bishop, the other adherents and thugs accompanying him went berserk, hauling stones at our staff and pouring gasoline on the five bulldozers on site and further threatened to set our staff and equipment ablaze. One of my fleeing staff alerted me of the ugly development on phone and I promptly called the Commissioner of Police.

“ No sooner had I arrived the scene at Uwani, than a couple of Reverends descended on me while I was asking them to stop hauling stones at the workers. I was hit by a stone .  In the ensuing mayhem, one of the thugs dressed as a reverend approached one of my staff and poured a gallon of gasoline on him before the Commissioner of Police and his team arrived the scene.  The CP in unequivocal terms chastised the church leaders and their thugs for brazenly taking laws into their hands and resorting to self-help. He finally advised them to seek redress in a court of law if they wanted to challenge the powers of a Governor to revoke the said parcel of land”

“The said parcel of land was empty/vacant with no structures except for a small clinic situated very far away from the scene of the incident and as such the issue of demolition of structures as alleged by the Bishop was not true”, he said.

He therefore advised the church to seek redress in court if it felt that government ‘s action was an act of injustice .