…Police petitioned as power tussle threatens to split church
A fierce leadership tussle has erupted within the Assemblies of God Church Nigeria, as two senior pastors are locked in a bitter struggle for control of a prime church property on Nanka Street, New Haven, Enugu State.
The dispute pits Rev. Okechukwu Obioha against Rev. Isaac Nnaji, both claiming authority over the management of the vast church property. The crisis has now spilled beyond the church, with the police drawn into the fray amid allegations of threats and assault.
According to documents seen by Uptown Press, Rev. Obioha has been managing the property since August 2021, after the Incorporated Trustees of the Assemblies of God Nigeria issued him a Power of Attorney. The authorisation, signed by the then General Superintendent, Rev. Ejikeme Ejim, alongside senior officials Rev. Godwin Amaowoh and Rev. Vincent Alaje, empowered him to “administer, manage and superintend” the property on behalf of the church.
The legal instrument also permitted him to sublet portions, collect rent, issue notices, and enforce repairs, powers he had reportedly exercised without dispute until recently.
Trouble began on 30 October 2025, when Rev. Obioha visited the property to collect rent from a tenant. Instead of a routine transaction, he claimed he was confronted and threatened by persons allegedly led by District Superintendent, Rev. Nnaji, who has since been posted to the church’s District Headquarters located within the property.
In a petition to the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State, titled “Threat to Life and Malicious Damages”, Rev. Obioha alleged that he was physically assaulted and narrowly escaped being lynched.
“They enveloped me for the purpose of assaulting me before passers-by intervened to rescue me,” Obioha stated, adding that the group vowed he would only return to the premises “as a corpse.”
The confrontation, he said, caused a major traffic gridlock in the area as onlookers gathered at the scene. Obioha further lamented that the incident had left him traumatised, describing the threats as “an act of impunity that endangers both my safety and the integrity of the church.”
He has appealed to the police to intervene swiftly to prevent what he described as “a looming breakdown of peace within the Assemblies of God community.”
When contacted, Rev. Nnaji declined to comment, saying only, “The case is before the police. I will not talk about it now.”
The Assemblies of God Church, one of Nigeria’s oldest Pentecostal denominations, has in recent years been rocked by leadership crises and property disputes following internal divisions. The latest confrontation in Enugu adds a fresh chapter to the long-running struggles over authority and assets within the church.
