The Abia State Police Command has reacted to a statement credited to the Associate Pastor of the United Evangelical Church, Ehere/Umuola, Ogbor Hill, Aba, which has been trending online, alleging that the command lied in its earlier clarification over the reported recovery of an explosive device at the church.
In a late Wednesday rejoinder by the Commissioner of Police, Danladi Isa, through the Police Public Relations Officer, Maureen Chinaka, the command maintained its position that no bomb or explosive was recovered from the church premises.
It would be recalled that following the Abia State Police Command’s clarification on Tuesday that no bomb or explosive was recovered from the premises of the United Evangelical Church, Ehere/Umuola, Ogbor Hill, Aba, the Associate Pastor of the church, Eleazar Onyenweaku, faulted the police position.
The pastor described the police claim as false and called for a thorough, independent investigation into the matter.
Onyenweaku insisted that a dangerous explosive device was exhumed from shallow soil on Friday while labourers were digging the foundation for a new perimeter fence around the church parsonage. He said the work was in compliance with a government directive to set back structures for an ongoing road expansion project in the area.
He expressed disbelief at the police’s conclusion, questioning how it was reached without officers visiting the site.
He said, “Workers, digging carefully to avoid underground water pipes, uncovered a metallic object buried less than a foot deep. Initially mistaken for scrap metal, it was examined more closely after the site engineer cleaned it.
