Catholic church seeks justice for priest’s incarceration in Ebonyi, The Catholic Church in Ebonyi is seeking justice for Rev. Fr. Timothy Ngwuta incarcerated over alleged involvement in the Effium-Ezza Effium fratricidal conflict in the state.
The church made the appeal in a statement signed by Rev. Fr Mathew Uzoma, Chancellor, Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki on Monday while reacting to the cleric’s continued incarceration in the state.
The church, in the statement, said that Ngwuta vehemently denied all charges brought against him before the bishop of the diocese and implored those responsible for the priest’s incaceration to “listen to the voice of right conscience”.
He was arrested by the police on Dec.21, 2021 at Mbeke-Ishieke, Ebonyi Local Government Area of the state while assisting a friend retrieve his vehicle which broke down.
Catholic church seeks justice for priest’s incarceration in Ebonyi
“He went to the police to secure a clearance which was granted after settling the entitlements for guarding the vehicle for two weeks.
A local vigilante accosted he and his team while inflating the tyres of the vehicle and he told them that the entitlement given to the police also covered theirs.
“Another set of vigilante swooped on him and this caused a rift between both groups with Ngwuta arrested and taken to the same police station which earlier gave him clearance,” the statement read.
The church in the statement, revealed that Ngwuta was subsequently transferred to the state police headquarters and released on Dec. 23, 2021 due to deteriorating health condition.
He was re-arrested on March 8, 2022 and three days later, arraigned in court for kidnapping and murder of the five Nelan construction company engineers supervising a road project at the crisis area, among other charges.