…We have no right or mandate to shutdown places of worship – CP Ahmad Abdurrahaman
ENUGU— THE Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdurrahaman, says operatives of the Nigeria Police Force has no right or mandate to shutdown or close places of worship in the country, except on circumstances involving threat to lives and properties or issues that may lead to possible breakdown of law and order.
The Police Commissioner was reacting to what he described as “a very serious allegation and misrepresentation of facts that the Command is receiving.”
Addressing journalists on Monday, Abdurrahaman said the Command received “so many unpalatable comments that agents of the Police Command stormed the Assemblies of God Church, dispersed worshippers and locked the church last Sunday.”
The state police boss said that was not the case as “it’s not part of our mandate to chase away worshippers and close their place of worship.”
Disclosing what happened, he said: “The true fact was that there was a friction in Assemblies of God Church, Agbani road yesterday(Sunday). The worshippers were spoiling for a free-for-all because of factionalised leadership at the national headquarters of the church which dated back to so many years and up till date, they still could not resolve their differences despite the decision of the Supreme Court.”
Abdurrahaman who attributed the action of the police to an ongoing and unresolved leadership crisis in the church, said a major clash was averted yesterday by a team of policemen led by a Divisional Police Officer, who later arrived at the scene, did everything within his will to put the fight to an end but to no avail.
Consequently, the Police vehemently sent everybody out of the premises and sealed the church, requesting the presence of the two factions at the station.
According to him: “When they gathered to worship yesterday, the factions became so furious and they were on each other’s throat. That was when the DPO received an SOS and went there with his team on time.
“His timely intervention prevented chaos and calamity in the church. They, therefore, called the warring factions to sheath their swords and accept dialogue. He tried by all means for the two factions to come together and worship together even if just for yesterday, but they refused.
“Each one claimed ownership of the church and superiority over the other. So how could that be done? When they refused to do that, he now advised the leadership of the faction to agree that they should go and dialogue and then come up with a modality that would allow them to either worship together or worship one after the other, but that could not also materialize.
“Therefore, in order to avoid chaos or riot and for them not to burn down the place, that place has to be closed for both parties, in the interest of justice, fairness and security.
“When they saw that the police is serious in preserving law and order and not allowing them to take laws into their hands, they agreed on one thing – to go and sit down and then come up with their own decision on Wednesday.
“So why will the police come to close a place of worship? It’s not our mandate. But not only place of worship, even if it is the worship itself, if it will bring problems, then definitely, the security agencies have the mandate and the power to wade into it so that it will not become a problem that will engulf the whole society.
“I want to also say that this problem has been going on nationwide. As Commissioner of Police in Kaduna, I superintended so many peace missions between the two warring factions and I knew how it became a running battle in Kaduna and we did everything to avoid bloodletting.
“We don’t have any right or mandate to close worship places, mosques or churches and we don’t even disperse worshippers, in so far they’re worshipping within the preamble of the law and they maintain peace and order.”
