SaharaReporters gathered the pastor was arrested in Benin City, Edo State after being accused of intervening in the case of a missing child.
The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore on Sunday stormed the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) located at Area 10, Abuja over the illegal arrest and detention of Pastor Kassy Chukwu of Peniel International Church.
SaharaReporters gathered the pastor was arrested in Benin City, Edo State after being accused of intervening in the case of a missing child.
The child allegedly went missing at Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministries.
The cleric was said to be detained on the order of one Prophet Jeremiah Omoto Fufeyin, who accused Pastor Chukwu of daring to demand justice for the parents of the child who went missing in the church.
But upon the arrival of Sowore at the police department to see the detained pastor and ensure that his rights were not violated, he was denied access to the cleric by the police officers who were on duty.
The AAC presidential candidate was that he could not see the detained cleric and that it was based on “an order from above”.
The policemen were seen making phone calls, believably to their superior officers upon sighting the activist on their premises.
The activist condemned the arrest of the cleric and his subsequent detention at FCID without any charge preferred against him.
Sowore said, "We are at the FCID. We came here to check on Pastor Kassy Chukwu who was detained here. Apparently, he is being detained here on the order of another pastor.
"This is the problem with the police, they have turned the police into a joke. Somebody can just call the Deputy Inspector General of Police or Commissioner of Police and get somebody detained.
"We came here to look for him to ensure that his rights are not violated but when we got here the moment they saw me, they started making calls, and that we cannot see him.
"We even went and bought food so that we can give it to him but they said we can't give him the food after they made all their contacts. We just want to report back that we were unable to see him.
"When this case was brought to my attention, I was told that it was politically motivated and that is why I was asking for the details but when I got here, I discovered that it was one of those despicable cases where people are just thrown in the detention because they have connection.”
“He was brought from Benin (City); no charges were brought against him up till now," Sowore added.