The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has said the police are the ones who owe the Anglican Church an apology for the gestapo manner in which they reportedly arrested the former Chief-of-Staff to Imo Governor, Uche Nwosu, while in church for the outing service of his late mother.
CAN said though it would never hinder the Police or the security agencies from performing their legal duties which include the arrest of suspected criminals, it would equally not condone the desecration of worship centres by operatives.
In a statement on Thursday night signed by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, the Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the CAN President, the umbrella Christian body countered the effort by the Imo State CAN Chairman, Reverend Eches Divine-Eches, who tendered an apology to the Anglican church for the disruption of its service during Nwosu’s arrest last Sunday.
Instead, CAN’s national leadership said there was no reason for any of its officials to apologize over the incident because the apex Christian body was not a party to the horrendous action.
The statement reads, “The National leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) condemns in the strongest terms the arrest of Mr. Uche Nwosu at St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral Umunwokwe village, in the Eziama-Obieri Nkwerre Local Government Area of Imo State.
“We feel highly embarrassed by this ugly development and feel pained that the Nigeria Police had no respect even for the House of God. We cannot remember whether this act of disrespect for God ever happened before in our country.
“The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has nothing to apologize for what the police did because we were never and would never be party to their horrendous action.
“The Police that did the disgraceful thing should appropriately apologise without giving any excuse. We expect them to be more circumspect in the performance of their duties.
“We are not asking the Police or the security agencies not to do their constitutional duties, but the idea of desecrating the House of God in doing so is totally unacceptable, unfortunate and reprehensible.
“In view of the foregoing, we urge the Inspector General of Police to call his men to order and continue to respect all houses of worship, whether church or mosque. This type of act should never happen again in our country.”
