Human rights advocates in Rivers State are demanding the immediate arrest and prosecution of Pastor Ugochukwu Hede and over 30 church members for allegedly attempting to murder and defame a 64-year-old man, Chief Gerald Obinozie, in Umuebule 4, Etche LGA.
As the attack unfolded, the Rivers State Response Team on Violence Against Women & Children urged Commissioner of Police (CP) Olugbenga Adepoju to launch a manhunt for Pastor Hede, General Overseer of Divine Grace City of a Great King Deliverance Ministry, and his followers over the brutal assault on Chief Obinozie.
According to the group, the pastor, alongside Prince Thompson and other church members, allegedly stormed One Ward Estate, Umuebule 4, armed with weapons, inflicted machete wounds on Chief Obinozie, doused him with fuel, and forced him to drink urine collected in buckets by female church members.
The mob reportedly stripped him naked, filmed the torture, and shared the footage online, accusing him falsely of attempting to vandalise a church transformer — a claim police investigations have since debunked.
Read Also: NOA Launches 2025 Democracy Day Dash Quiz
Tombari Dumka-Kote, the team’s coordinator, condemned the inhumane treatment and warned against further circulation of the victim’s nude videos, calling it a criminal offence.
She praised the court for remanding two suspects already arrested and stressed the need for justice, vowing that the case would not be buried.
Chief Remi Agu, speaking for Concerned Civil Society Organisations, urged the police to intensify efforts to arrest the pastor and others still at large, saying justice must be served.
Chief Obinozie, currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Port Harcourt, emotionally recounted his ordeal, thanking God for sparing his life from what he called a planned execution.
The incident has sparked outrage among civil society groups, including the Centre for Justice, Empowerment & Development (C4J), Together to Win Foundation for the Deprived (T2W), and CAP-WIN Foundation, all of whom have joined calls for swift prosecution of those responsible.
