According to reports from vanguard, the church had been issued a letter from the the state government since last year for illegal location along the Asata stream, allegedly it is violating the town planning laws.
While the pastors and members of the church too to fasting and prayers for God's intervention in the case, they watched as the one storey building was pulled down.
However, the church had dragged the state government to court and obtained an injunction restraining government from demolishing the building. But while the matter was in court, government allocated another land to the church with a directive to the church leaders to relocate without delay.
The alternative allocation was situated at Emeka Ebilla Avenue off Agbani Road, but the church was said to be reluctant in relocating the popular worship center, insisting that government must pay compensation to enable it erect another building at the new location.
A pastor of the church, Kennedy Udogaranya, said that the church and officials of the state’s Ministry of Lands had engaged in dialogue over the issue, but they were surprised to see government officials with bulldozers yesterday. He said that the church could not gain access to the new land allocated to them because of the dispute between Ngwo and Amechi people over the land. He explained that the church had informed the government of the difficulties in relocating to the place and officially requested for time to enable the two communities settle their differences over ownership of the land.
Do you think governments are getting too harsh on churches?
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