The Associate Pastor of the United Evangelical Church, Ehere/Umuola, Ogbor Hill, Aba, Eleazar Onyenweaku, has faulted the Abia State Police Command’s denial of an alleged explosive discovery within the church premises, insisting that a suspected device was indeed unearthed during excavation work.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with our correspondent during a visit to the church on Tuesday, Pastor Onyenweaku described the police statement as inaccurate and called for an independent and comprehensive investigation into the incident.
The controversy follows an earlier statement by the Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Maureen Chinaka, dismissing reports that a bomb or explosive device was found at the church. The Command maintained that no such object was recovered and attributed the alarm to an iron rod removed from a church pillar during structural adjustments in compliance with an ongoing road expansion project.
“I can authoritatively confirm that no bomb or explosive was recovered from the said area,” the police statement read in part, adding that investigations conducted through the Divisional Police Officer in the area found nothing resembling a bomb or explosive anywhere in Aba.
However, Pastor Onyenweaku maintained that the object discovered last Friday was more than scrap metal. According to him, labourers were excavating a shallow foundation for a new perimeter fence around the church parsonage, in line with a government directive to set back structures affected by the road expansion, when they uncovered a metallic object buried less than a foot beneath the surface.
He explained that the workers were digging cautiously to avoid damaging underground water pipes when the object was found. Initially dismissed as scrap, it was examined more closely after the site engineer cleaned it.
“Having lived in Northern Nigeria where I had seen explosives before, I immediately recognised it. The safety ring was still intact,” the pastor said.
He stated that he immediately isolated the object near a plantain stand within the compound and attempted to contact military personnel. Unable to reach them by phone, he said he proceeded to the Ndoki Primary School military base with photographs of the object.
According to him, a military team led by a Captain later visited the site, confirmed the object was dangerous, and evacuated it in a Hilux vehicle. He added that the team warned there could be other buried devices and advised vigilance.
Pastor Onyenweaku said his decision to contact the military before the police was based on what he described as the military’s technical expertise in handling explosives.
He also dismissed suggestions that the object could be a remnant of the Nigerian Civil War, noting that it showed no significant rust and appeared relatively new.
While refraining from speculating on how the object came to be buried within the church compound, he appealed to Governor Alex Otti to order a full security sweep of the premises and provide enhanced protection to reassure worshippers.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and other intelligence personnel from Umuahia had visited the church for preliminary inquiries.
Church elders, including Elder Andy Amadi and Deacon Obioma Adielle, corroborated the pastor’s account and urged authorities not to downplay the matter but to ensure a thorough investigation.
Efforts to reach the Governor’s Security Adviser, Navy Commander MacAnthony Ubah, were unsuccessful as calls and a text message were not returned as of press time. The Acting Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, 14 Brigade Ohafia, Captain Mazinho Attah, said he would follow up on the matter but had yet to respond at the time of filing this report.
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