The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has arrested a pastor with the House on the Rock Cathedral and two others over unlawful possession of firearm in Abuja.
DSP Josephine Adeh,Police Public Relations Officer in the FCT, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
She said the pastor, whose message and demonstrations were tagged as inciting in the media and on social media, was arrested in the early hours of Monday.
Adeh said the pastor was arrested alongside the church’s Chief Security Officer and one police Inspector, who was on duty on the said day.
She said the inspector had unprofessionally released his rifle to the pastor without permission or recourse to police authorities.
Adeh said investigation had commenced on the matter and urged the public to shun actions or utterances that could breach the law
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Action Regrettable — Church
However, the church, in a statement on Monday, said the pastor preached a message about fighting the good fight with spiritual weapons and carried “an unloaded gun” to illustrate his message on ‘Guarding your Faith.’
House On The Rock said Uche has been a leader in the church since 1999 and has always shown exemplary leadership.
“However, he realises that even with the best of intentions, carrying a gun to illustrate his message was ill-advised and regrettable,” the statement read.
“Without hesitation, Pastor Uche has acknowledged the gravity of his actions and apologises unreservedly for them.
“As a church, House On The Rock rejects all forms of violence and we stand on the good news gospel of Jesus Christ which embraces peace and goodwill for all of mankind.
“We are cooperating fully with the authorities as they carry out their investigations into this incident, and we will continue to engage internally to ensure this break in protocol does not happen again.”
