The priest said the incident occurred while he was returning to his diocese in a commercial vehicle after attending an ordination ceremony.

An Anglican priest attached to the Ogbaru Diocese in Anambra State, Rev. Tochukwu Agina, has narrated how naval officers brutalised him at a military checkpoint along Atani Road in Anambra State.

The priest said the incident occurred while he was returning to his diocese in a commercial vehicle after attending an ordination ceremony...TAP TO CONTINUE FULL READING.

According to him, trouble began when the vehicle arrived at the naval checkpoint at Atani, where officers were said to be extorting money from motorists.

He said the officers became suspicious when they noticed him holding his phone and assumed he may have been recording their activities.

Despite proving that he had not taken any photographs or videos of them, Rev. Agina said he was ordered out of the vehicle and brutally assaulted by the officers, including hitting his scrotum with a stick.

Narrating his ordeal, the priest said, “After ordination, I was going back home inside a commercial vehicle. When we got to the Naval checkpoint along Atani road, the soldier was collecting money from one of the vehicles in front of us.

“After which, he came to our own and saw me holding my phone and my bag. He asked if I was making a call, and I said I was not making a call. He asked to search my phone and see whether I took any pictures.

“I opened my phone and showed him that I did not take any pictures. My phone was on WhatsApp.

“He then ordered me to alight, which I obeyed and came down from the vehicle and asked for their senior officer there.”

Rev. Agina further alleged that while explaining the situation to a senior officer at the checkpoint, another officer intervened violently, took permission from the senior officer, and brutally assaulted him for no justification.

“The intelligent officer there called me. I went to him, and I was explaining what happened between the soldier and me when another soldier came out from inside and pushed me,” the priest said.

The priest said, “I told him that he should not touch me; then he asked for permission from the intelligent officer, and the officer granted him the permission, and he started brutalising me, slapping me and beating me up, and hitting me with a stick.

“He hit my scrotum, my legs, and eventually poured me water with soap before he burst my head, and they later took me to their clinic for treatment.”

The priest said he was assaulted despite the fact that he was dressed in his priestly regalia and wearing his clerical collar.

SaharaReporters gathered that following the incident, the Anglican Diocese of Ogbaru has written an open letter to the Naval authorities, demanding accountability and justice for the priest.

However, the diocese alleged that efforts were being made to “sweep this barbaric act of its officers under the carpet.”

On that backdrop, a case of violation of the priest’s fundamental human rights has been filed at the Anambra State High Court in Onitsha.

SaharaReporters gathered that on Monday at the High Court of Anambra State, Onitsha Judicial Division, a suit seeking the enforcement of the priest’s fundamental human rights was argued before the court.

A source familiar with the matter said that the case was led by senior advocates, Ejike Ezenwa (SAN) and Ben Osaka (SAN), alongside their team of lawyers.

According to the lead counsel, the alleged assault goes beyond a personal violation and constitutes “an assault on the Christian faith.”

The lawyer noted that “an innocent Priest in his priestly attire would be brutalized in the public glare, dehumanized without any form of restraint from the senior naval officers at the checkpoint.”

The court granted a motion for substituted service as prayed by counsel to the applicant and adjourned the matter to January for hearing.

However, the Nigerian Navy has yet to publicly respond to the allegations at the time of filing this report.