Nigeria: Court Frees Christians From Deity Worship in Bayelsa Community

Nembe — A Bayelsa State High Court, sitting in Nembe, has restrained the chairman of Okoroba community Council of Chiefs, Chief Benjamin Puyatei and the acting chief priest of Ogidiga shrine, Chief Joseph Ndubueze, from compelling 442 natives, mainly Christians, to partake in Eyalikai festival and worship of Ogidiga deity.

The court, presided over by Justice L. M. Boufini, in a ruling, declared that the compulsion of natives to participate in Eyalkai festival and the worship of the deity of Ogidiga was unlawful and, therefore, constitute a violation of their fundamental human rights guaranteed and protected under Sections 34 and 38 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2011, as amended, and Article 5 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples Ratification and Enforcement Act.

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