A church service at the United Methodist Church in the Durumi area of Abuja took a violent turn on Sunday, resulting in a major altercation among congregants that required police intervention. The brawl, which lasted for hours, led to significant property damage and forced the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police to deploy tear gas to restore order.
According to sources, the conflict stemmed from a deepening rift among the church elders over whether to separate from the church’s headquarters in the United States. The disagreement arose after the U.S. headquarters legalized practices that some Nigerian members considered foreign to their culture. The division among the elders had been growing for some time, with one faction pushing for the church to break away and rename itself, while another faction opposed the move.
During Sunday’s service, the church pastor announced plans to take the dispute to court and expressed his desire for the church to remain aligned with the U.S. headquarters. This announcement sparked a physical altercation among the congregants, with the situation escalating rapidly.
Efforts by the police to quell the violence were initially unsuccessful until they resorted to using tear gas. Following the disturbance, the police locked the church, dismissed the congregants, and detained several church elders for questioning.
The FCT police spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, confirmed the incident and stated that the Commissioner of Police, Bennett Igweh, has summoned all church elders to a meeting at the command’s headquarters on Monday at 10 a.m. to address the situation and seek a resolution.
