By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
The embattled Chaplain of the University of Calabar Chapel of Redemption, Rev. Joseph Ushie, has been restored by a Federal High Court (vacation court), sitting in Port Harcourt.
The court also barred the university from imposing any interim replacement.
The court, presided over by Hon. Justice Phoebe Ayua granted the order in Suit No. FHC/CA/FHR/87/2026, while ruling on an ex-parte motion filed by the chaplain seeking protection of his fundamental rights to religion and worship.
Rev. Ushie had dragged the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Offiong E. Offiong, the Registrar Chukwuka Icha, the University of Calabar, Prof. Paul O. Ajah, Rev. Timothy Ebere and the Chairman, Christian Council of Nigeria, Cross River State chapter, Most Rev. Offiong Mensah, to court over what he described as an illegal attempt to remove him.
He told the court that the respondents evicted him from his quarters “against the constitution of the church” and appointed an “interim chaplain” and caretaker committee to run the chapel.
Through his counsel, Mba E. Ukweni, SAN, and V. C. Egboluche, the chaplain prayed the court to restrain the respondents from “harassing, intimidating, or disrupting worship” and to preserve the established practices of the Chapel of Redemption.
Granting the prayers, Justice Ayua restrained the respondents from “entering, trespassing upon, taking over, locking up or in any way interfering with the premises of the UNICAL Chapel of Redemption” and specifically barred any interim arrangement pending the hearing of the substantive suit.”
The court ordered that the “status quo ante bellum” be maintained and adjourned the case to August 20, 2026, for hearing.
But Ukweni, SAN, counsel to applicant who spoke in an emotion ladened voice while answering questions from journalists said he cannot say anything concerning the matter, stressing that the matter is still before the court, adding that his client, Rev. Ushie who is also the applicant did not do anything wrong to be barred from movement or walking in UNICAL or suffer any form of eviction from the church or from his official residence at the university quarters.
He enthused, “To start with the Vice Chancellor has no right to meddle into the affairs of the church, he is not a member of that church and of course he cannot throw the applicant out from the church or evict him from his official residence.
“It’s on that basis that we approached the court to assist us and the court actually showed that it remains the only hope of the common man.”
