The Rivers State Response Team on Violence Against Women & Children has called on the state Commissioner of Police, CP Olugbenga Adepoju, to order the arrest and prosecution of one Pastor Ugochukwu Udechukwu Hede, general overseer of Divine Grace City of the Great King Deliverance Ministry.
The group also called for the arrest of Prince Thompson and 30 other members of the church, located at Umuebule 4, in Etche Local Government Area, Rivers State, alongside Pastor Hede, over the alleged attempted murder of Chief Gerald Okpara Obinozie.
According to a release signed by the Communication/Public Enlightenment officer, Queeneth Igbara, on July 1, 2025, Pastor Udechukwu and Prince Thompson allegedly “led over 30 members of the church, armed with various dangerous weapons to attack Chief Gerald Okwara Obinozie, inflicting matchet cuts on him, poured fuel on him and asking female members of the church to urinate in buckets of which he (Okwara) was forced to drink.”
Tombari Dumka-Kote, Coordinator, Rivers State Response Team on Violence Against Women & Children, lamented that the 64 year old Okwara was subjected to “all manner of inhuman treatment, stripped naked, videoed and had the videos posted on social media platforms, defaming him on false allegations, and only handed him half dead to the Police after his colleague escaped and raised alarm for residents to come out.”
Dumka-Kote who spoke to newsmen after an Oyigbo Magistrate Court remanded two of the suspects arrested in connection with the matter, called on the Rivers State Commissioner of Police to order the manhunt, arrest and prosecution of the prime suspects and not allow the case be swept under the carpet, adding that the state Response Team on Violence Against Women & Children “will leave no stone unturned in pressing for justice on the matter.”
The Response Team which frowned at the alarming level of violence in the state within the month of June, warned all those still circulating the nude video and pictures of Chief Gerald on Social media to immediately discontinue the act, or have themselves to blame.
‘As a Team, we are committed to curbing the growing menace of sexual and gender based violence in Rivers State, and suspects must be made to face the law to serve as a deterrant to others’, Dumka-Kote said.
Speaking on behalf of Concerned Civil Society Organizations who were also present in court, Chief Remi Agu, Deputy State Lead, Behind Bars Human Rights Initiative said the Police should go after the suspects and have them face the law, as nothing short of it will be accepted.
Agu who commended the Police for not taking long in finding the truth, called on the Police in the State to intensify efforts to have the prime suspects and others at large arrested and prosecuted
Chief Gerald Okwara is said to be receiving treatment now at an undisclosed medical facility, in Port Harcourt.
The Centre for Justice, Empowerment & Development (C4J), Together to Win Foundation for the Deprived (T2W), and CAP-WIN Foundation were also at the Oyigbo Police Division to demand for Justice on the matter.
Narrating his ordeal to newsmen, Chief Gerald Okwara Obinozie, expressed his appreciation to God for keeping him alive despite the incident, as the mob was sent to kill him.
The 64 year old man wept while telling how female church members urinated in buckets and it was forced to drink while been tortured on false allegation of trying to vandalize the church transformer. A report Police investigation has shown is untrue.
However, our correspondent could not get a response from Pastor Ugochukwu Udechukwu Hede, general overseer of Divine Grace City on the allegations.
