A human rights activist and Coordinator of Recover Nigeria Project, Osita Obi, has issued a two-week ultimatum to the Catholic Diocese of Awka to tender apology for evicting his wife from her rented shop
He also demanded the sum of N25m as compensation for the illegal eviction and destruction of his wife’s shops.
Obi argued that the eviction was illegal and without prior notice, lamenting that the action has led to the destruction of goods and property estimated at several millions of naira from the shop along the Secretariat Road, Awka, the Anambra State capital.
Addressing a press conference in Awka on Monday, Obi accused the church of using an “illegal” court order to carry out the eviction, allegedly without prior notice or proper court proceedings.
South East Punch gathered that the eviction was carried out by court bailiffs in company with security operatives on July 31, 2025, the same day the court papers were served, thereby causing the shop owners on the property struggling to salvage some of their properties amid heavy rainfall, while some were destroyed.
Obi condemned the action of the church describing it as “wicked, evil” and “a replica of Lucifer for lying” and being economical with the truth about the entire matter.
He expressed disappointment that the church which is supposed to be a succour to the people had brought untold pains and hardship to his wife and other tenants due to the eviction, adding that the development has sent his wife to the hospital due to sudden shock.
He said, “The Catholic Diocese of Awka went through the backdoor to obtain court document in order to carry out the illegal eviction. This is corruption of the highest order. Their narrative is coloured with evil and I am going to expose them.
“I am therefore demanding for public apology and a compensation of N25m within two-week. I will take the matter to the Vatican.
I am consulting with my lawyer to seek redress because the Catholic Diocese of Awka has sent my wife to the hospital because of the incident. My wife has been hospitalised. The church has to pay me N25million for the worth of property they damaged.
“We can no longer continue to console evil. The Catholic diocese of Awka reflects evil. Remember, I am not against the Catholic Church, but I am against the Catholic Diocese of Awka. I am not contesting the ownership of the property but the eviction and destruction of the shops without proper court process or legal notice should be condemned.
“The notice of eviction was pasted same day the team of Police, the court officials and he bailiff came for execution of the order of court. Even if the court ruled, the tenants should have received prior notice to enable them to remove their property safely.
“Instead, the church used security operatives to broke into shops without warning, destroying goods worth millions of Naira. We have no issue with who owns the property; our concern is that we were not informed or given notice about the pending court matter.”
He recounted that the shop owners arrived at their business premises that fateful morning, only to be met by stern-looking security operatives and court bailiffs, who presented a court judgment declaring that the initial landlord of the building was not the rightful owner.
“Our former landlord never informed us about any dispute. This is my wife’s shop. She is out of town, and I had gone for physiotherapy when I received a call that security operatives were breaking into her shop. That was how I came there.
“Based on this ruling, security operatives forcefully opened our shops, which were exposed to heavy rain, throwing out goods that were subsequently damaged.
“The disputed property was originally constructed by a late Reverend Father, who allegedly handed it over to his nephew, the man the tenants knew and addressed as their landlord prior to the court ruling,” he added.
On whether he will consider taking back the shop as being proposed by the church, Obi insisted that he cannot take back the shop because the church had petitioned the police on June 16, 2022 with malicious allegations against his wife.
According to him, the court proceedings emanated due to an ownership dispute between the church and his landlord, a development he claimed he was not aware of until some security operatives, on the orders of the church, broke into the shops and started throwing their properties out.
But while he accused the church of complicity in the eviction, the church claimed it had no hand in the exercise, insisting that the action was carried out by the court.
Although a court order from the Anambra State Magistrate Court pasted on the gate of the facility indicated that the property has been transferred to a new owner, and the occupants are hereby advised to obey the court order.
The court document showed Registered Trustees of the Catholic Church Awka as plaintiffs and ChidiOsakwe as defendant.
But when contacted on the phone, the Cathedral Administrator of the Awka Diocese, Rev. Fr. Charles Ndubisi, had insisted that the church should not be blamed because the enforcement was carried out by the court.
“They can’t blame the church when it was a court order that was being enforced. When a court gives an order, it is also the duty of the court to enforce it without the permission of the person who won.
“It is not the duty of the person who won the case, so the church did not go there themselves. The bailiffs went there with security officers and executed the judgment.
“The church has nothing to do with it. It was the court that enforced their judgment, and they don’t need the permission of the person who won the case to do so. It is not the first time that this type of thing has been done.
“The difference is that this time it involves the church. We did not go there ourselves; it was just done by the bailiffs in company with security operatives, although we do not know which of the security operatives the bailiffs went there with, but we know they executed the court order.
“And the people that were affected, some of them have reached out to us, especially those who have shops there, asking that, now that they know the real owners of the property, they want to come and negotiate with us so that they can retain staying in the shop and be doing their business, and we have asked them to come and see us,” Ndubisi added.
