The Cross River State Police Command has halted a Sunday worship service at the Chapel of Redemption, University of Calabar, following a dispute over the leadership of the church.
The intervention was reportedly aimed at preventing the disagreement from escalating into violence and disrupting public order.
The incident occurred when the university’s caretaker committee and an interim chaplain appointed by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Offiong Offiong, attempted to assume control of the service being conducted by the chapel’s substantive Chaplain, Rev Joseph Ushie.
The development reportedly caused confusion among worshippers and heightened tension at the chapel, prompting the police to intervene and terminate the service.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the command, Godwin Etim, told journalists that he ordered the suspension of the service after assessing the situation and concluding that allowing it to continue could result in violence.
He said, “There is palpable tension, and with what I see here, if I allow the service to continue, it will lead to bloodshed in this church.”
Etim said he subsequently met with Ushie, the interim chaplain and a member of the church’s Board of Trustees, adding that the parties agreed to suspend the service to prevent a breakdown of law and order.
The police boss disclosed that representatives of the contending parties had been invited to the command on Monday for a meeting aimed at resolving the dispute.
He also appealed to the parties to remain calm while efforts were made to settle the matter.
The latest development comes against the backdrop of a subsisting order of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt restraining the university’s Vice-Chancellor and persons acting through him from interfering with the chapel’s premises and activities.
The order followed a suit instituted by Ushie against the Vice-Chancellor, the university Registrar, Dr Chukwuka Icha, and three others through his counsel, Chief Mba Ukweni, SAN.
Ushie had asked the court to restrain the defendants from intimidating, threatening or assaulting him while exercising his right to worship at the chapel.
Following submissions by his counsel, Justice Phoebe Ayuba granted an injunction restraining the defendants and anyone acting through them from interfering with the chapel’s premises and activities.
The court also ordered the parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending the hearing and determination of the substantive application, which has been fixed for August 20.