The Delta State Police Commissioner, Alkali Usman, has ordered the closure of a Catholic chapel under construction within the premises of the command headquarters in Asaba.
The Command’s spokesperson, DSP Celestina Kalu, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Asaba.
Kalu said that the CP’s order followed the failure of the chaplain of the chapel to obtain official approval for the building.
She said: “There is no approval for the building of the catholic chapel.
“The chaplain, who is also a police officer, had been holding regular mass in the uncompleted church building in the last two years.
“The CP did not destroy the building.
“He only asked the chaplain to stop further work on it.
“He also stopped the holding of mass there until the chapel gets official approval from the Works Department, Force Headquarters in Abuja.
According to Kalu, there exists a mosque and another Christian chapel within the command premises, which are contained in the master plan of the command.
She added: “But there is no approval for another church.
“So the CP insisted that the chapel must get approval from the Works department before the church can stand.”
However, attempts to speak with the Chaplain of the chapel, Rev. Father Pius Onwuegbuzie, proved unsuccessful.
NAN gathered that the chapel, a one-storey building, had been a place of worship by catholic faithful within the state police command and environs.
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