The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Monday offered reasons why a Zimbabwean Bishop, Eben Nhiwatiwa of the United Methodist Church was arrested and detained.
Bishop Nhiwatiwa was reportedly taken into custody in Yola, the capital of Adamawa State, for allegedly entering the country with invalid travel documents.
The Adamawa State Comptroller of Immigration, Ibrahim Mohammed told bellnews exclusively that the cleric was caught performing religious duty with a “visit visa”, instead of a “religious visa”.
Bellnews on August 25, reported how Zimbabwean Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa of the United Methodist Church had reportedly been detained by Nigerian Immigration authorities, despite having all necessary documents.
Bishop Nhiwatiwa arrived in Nigeria on August 21, 2024, to oversee the election of a new bishop for the church’s Nigerian chapter, following the resignation of Bishop John Wesley Yohanna.
His detention has raised concerns. However, during a meeting with church members in Yola, Adamawa State, on Friday, August 23, 2024, Bishop Nhiwatiwa was reportedly taken into custody by Nigerian immigration officers.
After several hours of detention at the Yola Immigration office, he was confined to his hotel under immigration guard before being transferred to Abuja on August 24, 2024, where he was held at the Immigration Headquarters.
This detention appeared to be linked to internal power struggles within the United Methodist Church in Nigeria, with allegations suggesting that the former bishop may be orchestrating the detention to maintain control over church assets and hinder the election process.
However, clearing the air on the circumstances surrounding the cleric’s arrest and detention on Monday, Comptroller Mohammed said, “The bishop was arrested because he was found doing religious business with a visit visa.”
Mohammed further disclosed that the Methodist bishop was in the country to superintend an election of a new bishop, for a faction of the church that supports gay practice.
“We arrested him following an information that he was presiding over a church meeting with the aim of electing a new bishop.
“And it is prohibited to perform any religious duty with a visit visa. He required a religious visa to function as such.
“Again, we gathered he was in the country to supervise the election of a new bishop for a faction of the church which believes in same sex marriage.
“And we all know that our laws have outlawed same sex marriage. So basically, he deceived our embassy in his country, because I think he knows the difference between the two visas.
“When we flew him to our headquarters in Abuja the Zimbabwean ambassador came and we showed him the visa and he was surprised the bishop came on a visit visa.”
The Comptroller also explained to Bellnews that the increase in passport fees was necessitated by its enhancement with better security features.