OWN CORRESPONDENT
The United Methodist Church (UMC)’s Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa, who arrived in Nigeria on August 21, 2024, to meet with UMC members and facilitate the election of a new Nigerian Bishop, was detained in Yola, Adamawa State, and subsequently transferred to Abuja on allegations of intentions to promote same-sex marriage in that country.
According to reports, the detention is linked to internal disputes within the UMC in Nigeria. The former Bishop, John Wesley Yohanna, who resigned to join the Global Methodist Church (GMC), is alleged to have orchestrated the detention to hinder the election process and consolidate his control over the Church’s assets.
Former Bishop Yohanna has been accused of converting UMC properties to GMC, leading to widespread protests and legal battles.
Trouble started when Bishop Nhiwatiwa arrived at Yola Town, Adamawa State, the venue for the first meeting with the members of the Southern Nigerian Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in Nigeria but was on Friday 23 August 2024, whisked away at the venue of the meeting by the Nigerian Immigration officers Adamawa State Command for questioning.
After several hours of detention in the Yola Immigration office, Bishop Nhiwatiwa was later confined to his hotel with immigration officials guarding him before being taken to Abuja on Saturday 24 August to the Immigration Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital where he is currently detained.
A Journalist and member of the UMCN Salisu Waziri assigned by the Church leadership to receive the Bishop at the Abuja Airport and accompany him to the Immigration headquarters in Abuja said Bishop Nhiwatiwa who was denied access to his drugs and luggage from Yola Immigration Office, was later checked into the Immigration headquarters guest house to wait for further directives.
He quoted an Immigration Officer that the Yola Immigration office had interrogated Bishop Nhiwatiwa and found nothing wrong with his documents but wondered why they would have to send him back to Abuja for further questioning.
” At the Immigration office in Yola since yesterday, we have interrogated this Bishop, and all his papers are intact. I wonder why they will have to send him back to the Immigration headquarters in Abuja for further questioning.
“His visa was processed here in Abuja. I think if there is anything wrong with his documents, just a call from Yola to Abuja would have clarified the issue. Well, I know something is wrong at the top because I learned that the other faction of the Church went to the Immigration headquarters in Abuja to file a complaint against the Bishop. They are likely the ones who paid for our flight tickets 260,000 Naira; that is 130,000 Naira each. I was just sitting relaxing and my boss said I will be going to Abuja with Bishop and here we are” he said.
Salisu Waziri who accompanied the immigration officer and the Bishop to the headquarters of the Nigerian immigration office in Abuja at about 8 pm reported that there were no senior immigration officials to attend to the immigration officer from Yola and the Bishop as all offices were locked. Only a few Immigration security officers were seen at their duty post.
He also noted that a Zimbabwean National official has so far reached out to the Zimbabwean Embassy in Nigeria to begin diplomatic talks on the issue.
“Concerning allegations of promoting same-sex marriage, the interesting thing is that, he was not preaching. He was detained in Yola that Friday and moved to Abuja on Saturday night. The Zimbabwe High Commission is not even aware that he is being detained. This is not good for Nigeria’s image,” our source in Abuja told this publication.
The source added that Bishop Nhiwatiwa was denied access to his medication since he was denied access to his luggage that is being held in Yola. Matthias Medugu, the Immigration Officer in Abuja did not respond to calls from our correspondent in Nigeria.
“In our country, Immigration has no power to arrest and detain visitors on non-immigration issues. This arrest is motivated by the rival church party and most likely a heavy greasing of the palms. How come Bishop Nhiwatiwa was not handed over to the police? No one has seen the claimed petition,” quipped our correspondent.
