- Safiu Kehinde
The Federal Capital Territory Police have arrested some officials of the Holy Trinity Catholic church, Abuja, over the stampede that killed 10 people during the distribution of food items there at the weekend.
This is coming under the heels of the Muslim Rights Concern’s (MURIC) demand for the arrest of those behind the event and a similar one in Okija, Anambra State, where 22 persons were confirmed dead in a billionaire businessman’s house.
The Islamic activist group had demanded that organisers of a similar tragic charity event in Ibadan, Oyo State, who were taken to court and remanded in prison custody, should be released if those of the Abuja and Anambra events would not be given similar treatment.
According to reports, the officials were arrested and taken into detention on Wednesday morning.
Reacting to the arrest and detention of his church officials, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Most Rev Ignatius Kaigama, condemned what he described as “verbal demonization of the Catholic Church” by some agents of government.
He said the detention of the church officials and the threat to slam criminal charges on the church “is, to say the least, uninspiring, unfriendly and a misplaced zeal, and one wonders what purpose these were meant to serve.”