The leadership tussle over the stool of the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church in Nigeria, between Professor Paul Emeka and Dr. Chidi, exploded into violence in one of its branches in Saminaka, Lere Local Government Area, Kaduna State, about 140 kilometres east of Kaduna metropolis.
The fight left 20 members with injuries and two homes of resident
pastors burnt. A source from the Assemblies of God Church (Jerusalem),
Saminaka, told Vanguard in Kaduna that the fight started from 8a.m. and
lasted till 2p.m. Sunday, which was later confirmed by Kaduna State
Police Command.
It could be recalled that on September 15, 2015, Governor Nasir
el-Rufai had ordered the closure of the church including the Theological
Seminary of Northern Nigeria, Saminaka, Shalom Comprehensive College,
AGC Evangelist Hospital, Saminaka, saying it was to avoid a possible
breakdown of law and order, as the two factions squabbled. According to
the source, a minority faction of the church sneaked into the premises
on Saturday evening and slept overnight.
The source said: “We came to worship around 8a.m. Not knowing that
the other faction had prepared for war. We came into the premises and
secured the gates. “As soon as we had settled for the Church
proceedings, about 20 members of the other faction appeared. They were
armed with knives, daggers, clubs, iron rods and other weapons. “To our
surprise, Police, Army, Civil Defense personnel arrived the premises of
the church almost the same time members of the other faction emerged.
“The Divisional Police Officer of Saminaka, who has just been
posted here, seemed in charge of the security men around. He told us to
come out of the church and leave the premises. We said we would only do
so if the armed faction, which was then hauling stones at us, also left.
“In no time, they attacked us, injuring many of us. Since we were not
armed, we had to find ways to escape.
“The most frightening thing was that the stones they were throwing
were also falling into Hausa Muslims homes. If these people had reacted,
I don’t know what Saminaka would have been today. “The Muslims came out
and were laughing at us. It is such a disgrace. To our surprise, the
police and the rest did nothing to stop them. After inflicting injuries
on us, they went to the homes of our two resident pastors and set them
ablaze.”
When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer for Kaduna State
Police Command, ASP Aliyu Usman, in a text message to Vanguard
yesterday, said: “I have confirmed the story. The case between the two
factions is already in court, while the DPO attached to Saminaka
Division has controlled the situation and also made arrests of the
hoodlums. “The area is calm and proactive measures are been placed to
prevent further escalation of the crisis.”
No comments:
Post a Comment