Pastor Adeiza Peter Michonza has been detained pending trial by a chief magistrate court in Lokoja, Kogi State. He was remanded at the Federal Correctional Centre Kabba on charges of alleged culpable homicide.
Michonza, affiliated with the New Jerusalem Deliverance Ministry in Ageva, Okene local government area, was apprehended for purportedly operating maternity wards for expectant mothers within his church premises and peddling purportedly protective “bulletproof” water.
On Monday, September 26, 2022, the Kogi State Government shut down his church and evacuated over 100 individuals, predominantly young women who had reportedly spent months there under the guise of prayer, along with others allegedly mentally unstable and restrained in chains.
Chief Magistrate Abdul A. Umar issued the remand order on Thursday, October 5, 2022, following an ex parte application by the Department of State Security (DSS) seeking the defendant’s detention to facilitate ongoing investigations.
The ex parte application cited charges of culpable homicide, causing miscarriage, and impersonation, as per sections 224, 232, 433, and 325 of the Kogi State penal code.
After preliminary investigations are concluded, the suspect will face charges in the High Court of Justice.
The defendant’s counsel, Barrister Lawrence N. Ilobuno, informed journalists that his client was arrested by the DSS on September 19, 2022, and has been in their custody since. He stated that he had petitioned the magistrate to file a bail application due to the extended detention period without being formally charged.
Ilobuno highlighted that the magistrate, based on the DSS’s ex parte application for remand to allow for further investigation, ordered the suspect’s detention at the Kabba correctional center for 14 days.
The case is scheduled for mention on October 20, 2022.
