Nigerian Navy bars church from erecting storey building opposite Base
A member of a church, Dr Inemesit Ekanem, had claimed that the disruption and harassment by NNS Jubilee had impeded the progress of the church’s work.
Mr Etuk who said this in a statement revealed that when the church workers came to the site on March 12, one of the officers of the Base told them of the need for a round-table discussion, which they had always ignored.
According to DAILY NIGERIAN, Dr. Ekanem said that the Base had a dialogue with the Church leadership about four times on the need to relocate the structure from opposite the Base’s entrance.
Speaking with Newsmen, the Base Operation Officer, Navy Cdr. Morgan Etuk elaborated on the complaint by a Church of incessant harassments and disruptions of the church’s project work opposite the Base.
“If you check our security architecture you will see drums and sentries stationed all over the place. These are some of the things we use to protect this place.
“Coming to erect that structure, which they said is even a storey building, somebody can go there and use it as an observation post to monitor what is happening inside the base.
“As a pastor, you will not tell me categorically hundred per cent that the members don’t have any criminal tendencies or intentions.
“You heard about how criminals go about attacking military zones, killing personnel and carting away weapons, so we have to secure our base.
“We can’t just sit down and allow a structure erected in front of us which we know fully well that it might become a security threat to us,” Etuk said.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that MR Etuk stress that approval had not been given, adding that the base would not allow such construction knowing fully well that it would be a security threat.”
(NAN)
