A 51-year-old pastor, Chukwuma Agu, was on Thursday brought before an Enugu Magistrate Court for alleged destruction of property worth N1 million.
Mr Agu who hails from Enugu East Local Government Area is facing a two-count charge bordering on unlawful occupation and damage to property.
The prosecutor, Cajetan Ugwu, told the court that the complainant, Adolphus Obi, reported the matter to the police in Enugu in August 2018.
Ms Ugwu said the complainant had in the report claimed that the land shielded by the broken fence belonged to him but was unlawfully occupied by the defendant and his church.
When the matter came up for hearing, I. Enoch, the defence counsel, told the court that the defendant did not commit any crime against the complainant.
Mr Enoch said that the real name of the defendant was not found in the statement written by the complainant to warrant him being docked.
The defence counsel told the court that the defendant’s real name was Vincent Agu and not Jude Agu as the complainant claimed.
He stressed that the property alleged to have been destroyed was a fence wall broken by a community known as Umuchigbo Community.
Enoch said that the community demolished the complainant’s fence because he refused to adhere to the community’s instruction on land development.
He told the court that the fence was owned by the Church of Resurrection, where the defendant worked as a pastor for some time.
The defence counsel further told the court that the police arrested the defendant because he was the one caught in the act of breaking the fence.
The Magistrate, Dennis Ekoh, urged the defence counsel to always go straight to the point when cross-examining the complainant.
He adjourned the matter till July 10 for the continuation of hearing.
(NAN)
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