Eviction of Tenants: Rights Groups Tell Awka Catholic Diocese — Be Shepherds of Souls, Not Landlords

By Our Correspondent

Human rights groups have faulted the Catholic Diocese of Awka over the forceful eviction of tenants from a shop complex along Secretariat Road, describing the action as high-handed, insensitive, and unbecoming of a church that ought to embody compassion and social justice.

The Campaign for Democracy (CD) and the Human Rights, Liberty Access and Peace Defenders Foundation (HURIDE) said the Catholic Diocese erred in throwing out tenants without adequate notice, even if it had a subsisting court judgment in its favour.

In a joint statement signed by Dede Uzor A. Uzor, Chairman of CD in the South East Zone and Executive Director of HURIDE, the groups insisted that the church must not present itself as a “militarised or despotic institution” but as a refuge for the oppressed.

“It is wrong and insensitive for the Catholic Diocese of Awka to evict tenants in such a callous manner. Even if there was a valid court judgment, a church that claims to stand for Christ and the oppressed should have carried out the process with a human face,” the statement read.

The groups expressed disappointment that the diocese, revered as a moral compass in society, could supervise an eviction exercise that left tenants’ wares destroyed and livelihoods shattered.

According to them, “When the church, which should be the last hope of the common man, becomes the oppressor, what message does it preach? What gospel of Christ can it present to the people when it displays this degree of insensitivity, callousness, and brigandage?”

The eviction was allegedly carried out by court bailiffs under the supervision of the Chancellor of the Diocese, Rev. Fr. Charles Ndubuisi. The wares of the affected traders were reportedly destroyed in the process and thrown into a heavy rainfall.

Fr. Ndubuisi, however, maintained that the action was strictly in obedience to a judgment delivered by Magistrate E.C. Chukwu of the Awka Magistrate Court, which granted the church immediate possession of the property at No. 27 Secretariat Road, said to have been owned by a late Catholic priest.

But one of the affected tenants, Mr. Osita Obi, whose wife—a retired Deputy Director in the Federal Civil Service—was among those evicted, lamented that goods worth about N25 million were lost. He insisted that neither a quit notice nor a copy of the judgment was served on them before the eviction.

The rights groups stressed that while the church had a right to reclaim its property if it indeed belonged to it, the process must not contradict the moral and humanitarian teachings it espouses.

“This type of hurried execution, which looks like a jankara operation designed to pre-empt an appeal, brings the integrity of the church into question. The diocese should have engaged the tenants, informed them of the court judgment, and allowed them to vacate with dignity. Anything less undermines the very gospel of love and justice the church professes,” Uzor stated.

The groups urged the Catholic Diocese of Awka to take responsibility for the manner of the eviction and seek ways to compensate the victims whose sources of livelihood were destroyed.