Ebonyi: Catholic Church Exonerates Priest Facing Murder, Kidnapping Charges

Rev Fr Matthew Uzoma Opoke, chancellor, Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki, Monday, lamented the detention and denial of bail to one of its priests, Fr Timothy Ngwuta.

Fr Opoke, in a statement made available to THE WHISTLER in Abakaliki, regretted that efforts to effect the release of the detained priest had ‘been hampered by the Executive Order preventing any court in the state from entertaining matters relating to Effium crisis.’

According to the statement, Fr Ngwuta was innocent of all the accusations preferred against him.

It read, “On Saturday, 11th December, 2021, Fr Timothy Ngwuta was arrested by the Nigeria Police at Mbeke Ishieke, Ebonyi Local Government Area, where he went to help his friend, Jude Ariom, retrieve a vehicle (Toyota Sienna) that was parked there.

“Before Timothy arrived at Mbeke, he proceeded to the police station to obtain clearance to move the vehicle whose tyres were deflated. The police at Mbeke granted him permission to take the vehicle away after he had settled their bill for guarding the car for a period of two weeks.

“In the course of inflating the tyres, the local vigilante swooped on him and his companions, demanding further settlements. Fr Ngwuta informed them that the settlement with the police was meant to take care of them as well.

“After a short while, a different set of local vigilante group arrived, bringing about some altercations between the two groups. Fr Ngwuta and those who came to assist him were arrested by the local vigilante and handed over to the same police who earlier had given him clearance to move the vehicle.

“Fr Ngwuta and his companions were subsequently brought to the Nigeria Police headquarters in Abakaliki the following day and detained for a period of twelve days.

“He was tortured. He was later released on bail, when his health began to fail him on account of the torture he received while in detention. That was on the 23rd of December, 2021. He was required to be reporting to the police station weekly. This he did religiously.”

Fr Opoke said Fr Ngwuta was later re-arrested and arraigned in court.

Quoting him, “Just when we thought the matter was over, he was rearrested on Tuesday, March 8, 2022.

“On the 11th of March, 2021, he was arraigned in court for kidnapping and murder of the five NELAN engineers; as well as the murder of police officers, aiding escape, arson, promoting inter-communal war, et cetera.

“We are worried how the issue of going to recover a car parked outside the war zone [a different local government area] has metamorphosed to such accusations as contained in the charges against him.

“The identity of the owner of the car was disclosed to the police by Fr Ngwuta together with the contact address and phone number. It is rather surprising to hear that Fr Ngwuta is shielding him.”

Our correspondent gathered that Fr Timothy Ngwuta comes from Ezaa Efflum where there is an inter-communal war between the Effium and Ezza Effium.

The church condemned his detention and called on the police to do thorough investigations into the matter.

It said, “The Catholic Church condemns acts of violence, incitement of violence, wars, kidnapping, arson, or any crimes and will not shield anyone involved in such dastardly acts.

“We urge the security forces to do a thorough investigation and ensure that the priest of God, who has, in conscience, stated before his Bishop that the accusations are entirely false, is not punished for offences he knows nothing about.”

The church therefore appealed to the people of Effium and Ezaa Effium involved in the inter-communal war to lay down their arms and embrace the path of peace.

It said, “We implore all people of goodwill to join us in praying God to touch those responsible for the incarceration of Fr Ngwuta to listen to the voice of right conscience. We commend the whole process into the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Priests and the Star of Evangelization.”

It was gathered that the stated engineers and police operatives were killed at a mining site at the crisis-ridden communities. They were said to be on official duties when they were attacked.