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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The United Evangelical Church, Ehere/Umuola, Ogbor Hill, Aba, Abia State has faulted the Abia Police Command’s claim that no explosive object was discovered in the church.
Reports went viral, on Monday, about the discovery of an object suspected to be a bomb inside the premises, which prompted the church authorities to invite the military that eventually evacuated the dangerous object.
In a statement, the command, through her Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Maureen Chinaka, said an investigation conducted by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area indicated that no suspected bomb was found in the church.
“The church, which had encroached on the road currently being reconstructed by the government, was asked to move back slightly to create space for the project. This directive was not complied with, prompting the military to intervene, to ensure compliance.
“During the process, an iron rod part of a pillar of the church structure that was being adjusted was removed by the military. Therefore, there was nothing resembling a bomb or explosive recovered anywhere in Aba”, the statement added.
However, Board Chairman of the Church, Elder Ariomnwa Amadi, who spoke to newsmen confirmed the incident, adding that the church held a thanksgiving service last Sunday, to express gratitude to God for saving members from what he described as an averted national tragedy.
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Elder Amadi informed that the church members were digging to make way for a new fence when they discovered the suspected object and alerted soldiers who came and evacuated the object.
Answering a question, the Board Chairman said, “I don’t know if the object was planted during the civil war, but the soldiers who evacuated it asked us to thank God for the evacuation, stressing that, if it had exploded, the effect would have been too disastrous.
“They also told us that the suspected bomb has a capacity of going 2 kilometres radius in destruction. This was why we held a thanksgiving service, last Sunday, to thank God for saving our lives. It would have been a national tragedy, but God showed us mercy; nobody was even injured, not to talk of losing a life.”
Secretary, Aba Area Conference of the Church, Rev. Thompson Ikpeoha, had earlier confirmed the incident.
Some of the church members, who spoke on the issue, equally faulted the police claim, saying no policeman came to the church for any verification purposes.
The members vehemently denied police statements that the church refused government’s directive to slightly move the fence in, to pave way for road reconstruction, hence the military intervention.
They said, rather, it was their priest who invited the military when they dug out the dangerous object and wondered why soldiers would have gone with the object, if it was an ordinary rod as claimed by the police.
