Associate Pastor Eleazar Onyenweaku of the United Evangelical Church, Ehere\/Umuola, Ogbor Hill, Aba, has slammed the Abia <\/a>State Police Command for saying that no bomb or explosive was found in their church.<\/p>\n Pastor Onyenweaku, who described the police\u2019s statement as falsehood,\u00a0 maintained that a dangerous explosive device was indeed exhumed from shallow soil last Friday while laborers excavated a foundation for a new perimeter fence around the church parsonage.<\/p>\n He also said that his church complied with the directive of the Abia <\/a>State government that some structures in the church be adjusted backward for an\u00a0 ongoing road expansion project.<\/p>\n The Abia <\/a>State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Maureen Chinaka, had on Tuesday, dismissed media reports of the incident in an official statement, asserting that no bomb or explosive was recovered.<\/p>\n But\u00a0 Onyenweaku expressed disbelief at the police conclusion, questioning how it was reached without any officer visiting the site.<\/p>\n He recounted that workers, digging carefully to avoid underground water pipes, uncovered a metallic object buried less than a foot deep.<\/p>\n He said initially mistaken for scrap metal, it was examined more closely after the site engineer cleaned it.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving lived in Northern Nigeria where I had seen explosives before, I immediately recognized it. The safety ring was still intact,\u201d the pastor said.<\/p>\n According to the cleric, he\u00a0 quickly isolated the object near a plantain stand and failing to reach military contacts directly, rushed to Ndoki Primary School military base with photographs.<\/p>\n A team led by a Captain responded, and according to him, confirmed the item\u2019s dangerous nature, evacuated it in a Hilux vehicle, and warned of possible additional buried devices.<\/p>\n The pastor explained his decision to approach the military first, citing their expertise with explosives over police resources.<\/p>\n He rejected suggestions that the device was a relic from the Nigerian Civil War, noting its lack of rust and relatively new appearance.<\/p>\n While not accusing anyone specifically, Pastor Onyenweaku appealed to Abia <\/a>State Governor, Alex <\/a>Otti for a thorough investigation, including the installation of full premises scan to reduce the fears among his Church members.<\/p>\n Also\u00a0 some elders of the church, Andy Amadi and Obioma Adielle insisted that explosive object was found in the Church, calling for a thorough investigation.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n