A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has condemned the “illegal arrest and continued detention” of the founder of Peniel of God’s Power International Ministries in Benin, Edo State, Apostle Kassy Cbukwu, by the Nigeria Police Force, on the instigation of one Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin.

The cleric was said to have been arrested by the police on May 6, 2022, and released the next day, after Prophet Fufeyin, who is the founder of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry, Warri, Delta State, claimed that he was defamed by Apostle Kassy’s Facebook comments.

He was rearrested on July 6, 2022, by the International Criminal Police Organisation and detained in the custody of the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Abuja, where he was taken to, from Benin.

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But Effiong, in his petition to the Inspector-General of Police, titled “Illegal detention of Apostle Kassy Chukwu by the police on instigation of prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin,” dated July 11,2022, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent in Uyo on Tuesday, called on the IGP to direct immediate release of Apostle Kassy.

He stated that irrespective of the allegations, the police had once again allowed itself to be used as a tool of oppression and attainment of personal vendetta by an influential member of the society who represented himself as “a man of God”.

Part of the petition read, “My attention has been drawn to the arrest and continued detention of one Apostle Kassy Chukwu, the founder of Peniel of God’s Power International Ministries situated in Benin, Edo State, by the Nigeria Police Force on the instigation of one Prophet Jeremiah Omoto Fufeyin, the founder of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry, Warri, Delta State.

“The arrest and detention of Apostle Kassy is based on a complaint by Prophet Jeremiah to the police. He claims that he was defamed by Apostle Kassy in comments he purportedly made on Facebook.

“Irrespective of the allegations made against Apostle Kassy, it is unacceptable that the police has once again allowed itself to be used as a tool of oppression and attainment of personal vendetta by an influential member of the society who represents himself as “a man of God”.

“On Sunday, July 10, 2022, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, went to the FCIID in Abuja and sought to see Apostle Kassy but was flagrantly denied access to him. He was also not allowed to give him the food that he bought for him.

“Every suspect in custody has a right to visitation. Every person is presumed to be innocent until he is proven guilty as provided for in Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution.

“The continued detention of Apostle Kassy is a blatant violation of his fundamental right to personal liberty as enshrined in Section 35 of the Constitution. The police should know that there is a price to pay for impunity and violation of the rights of citizens.

“It is scandalous that the INTERPOL, a body which is established to curtail serious international crimes, has been thoroughly abused in Nigeria and is being deployed by every Tom, Dick and Harry to settle personal scores. This is reprehensible and condemnable.

“No court in Nigeria, to the best of my knowledge, has issued a warrant for the arrest and detention of Apostle Kassy. It is shameful that despite persistent demands by Nigerians for the reform of the police, the rot, culture of human right abuses and endemic lawlessness in the Force is getting worse by the day.

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“One wonders why Prophet Jeremiah has not filed a civil suit against Apsotle Kassy for defamation in a competent court of law, but prefers to use the instrumentality of the police to witch hunt him.

“I call on the IGP to direct the immediate release of Apostle Kassy and cause investigation to be carried out into the abuse of police powers in this case.

“We cannot continue to condone the vicious weaponisation of the police for sinister purposes by individuals who feel they have money to throw around.”