The Delta State Police Command on Sunday arrested three pastors and 20 others for flaunting the stay-at-home order of the Delta Government put in place to contain the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Those arrested include the Vicar of the All Saints Church at Airport Road in Warri, the General Overseer of Christ for the World Mission and a Reverend Father from the Anglican Church in Warri, for conducting church service on Easter Sunday.
The operation was led by the Warri Area Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP Mohammed Garba.
The pastors and the twenty others were taken to the A Division and Area Command Police station, waiting to be arraigned before the court on Monday
Although they claimed to have permits when they were arrested at various locations, they failed to produce the documents, after investigations by a combined team of the Delta state Director General of security matters, David Tonwe and the Assistant Commissioner of Police.
When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Onome Onowakpoyeya, confirmed the arrest of the pastors, saying “The DPO “A” Division said he arrested one; the Area Commander in Warri arrested one, while the last one was arrested by the policemen in “B” Division.”
ACP Mohmmaed Garba, who spoke to BusinessDay on telephone said, “Definitely. It is correct. We have arrested three persons or four of them. They are inside the cell. In one of the churches, they had almost 100 people. You can imagine. So, we are going to charge them to Court tomorrow.”
In a telephone chat with Our Correspondent the Divisional Police Officer of ‘B’ Division, Warri, CSP Andrew Inidebor, said he led the team that effected the arrest of one of the priests and some of his members.
CSP Inidebor said he received a call by some leaders in Okere-Urhobo Community that the Anglican priest was conducting Sunday service, against the directive of the State Government.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and the State Police command had on Saturday directed all Christians in the state to observe the Easter Sunday celebration from home because of the outbreak of the virus in the state.
Delta has so far recorded three confirmed cases of COVID-19 with one of the patients being confirmed dead before the result of his sample was released.
Francis Sadhere, Warri
