UMC Bishop Back in Zimbabwe after Being Detained in Nigeria on Visa Issue

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A United Methodist Insight Special

United Methodist Bishop Eben K. Nhiwatiwa was safely home in Zimbabwe Aug. 27 after being detained in Nigeria on a visa complaint while visiting to set up the election of a new bishop.

The incident marks the latest encounter in an ongoing conflict in Nigeria between church leaders loyal to The United Methodist Church and factions supporting the breakaway Global Methodist Church and former bishop John Wesley Yohanna.

Bishop Nhiwatiwa is part of a four-bishop team appointed by the Council of Bishops to administer the troubled Nigeria Episcopal Area after Yohanna and his cabinet resigned in July to join the Global Methodist Church.

Multiple Nigerian and African news outlets reported variously that the bishop had been either "arrested" or "detained" by Nigerian immigration officials on a complaint that his visa document was "illegal."

One outlet, The Herald in Zimbabwe, wrote that Bishop Nhiwatiwa had been "deported" by Nigerian immigration because he had a "visit" visa as opposed to a "religious" visa. The bishop's assistant, the Rev. Alan Gurupira, issued a statement Aug. 25 that Bishop Nhiwatiwa was "safe" in Nigeria while arrangements were being made for his return. Rev. Gurupira said UMC Bishop Mande Muyombo of the North Katanga Episcopal Area in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Zimbabwean ambassador to Nigeria were involved in negotiations for Bishop Nhiwatiwa's release.

The Herald also reported, "The church leadership fears that this incident may be the beginning of a broader crackdown, with plans reportedly underway to detain additional members and pastors involved in the contentious dispute."

The Rev. Ande I. Emmanuel of the Southern Nigeria Annual Conference gave this account in an email replying to United Methodist Insight's inquiry:

"Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa arrived in Nigeria successfully and was cleared at the airport with a visa on arrival. He entered Nigeria to commence his visit. But the Global Methodist Church (GMC) breakaway faction led by John Wesley Yohanna reported him to the immigration that he came to promote homosexuality in Nigeria.

"The immigration officers in Yola, the capital city of Adamawa State, which (was) the first location for his visit, invited him and interrogated him for three hours (Aug. 23) and put him under guard and this evening he was invited at their office again in Yola and was told that his attention is needed at the immigration headquarters in Abuja. They put him this evening on the plane with one immigration officer to Abuja to meet the Comptroller General in Abuja."

In a response to Insight's email inquiry, Bishop John Schol, also on the episcopal team for Nigeria, refuted reports that Bishop Nhiwatiwa had been "arrested" as reported in some Nigerian news outlets (see links at end). Insight also asked Bishop Schol whether this incident would prevent the UMC's team from supervising the Nigeria Episcopal Area but had received no reply by Aug. 28.

However, Rev. Emmanuel said that Nigerian United Methodists have engaged legal services because of the incident involving Bishop Nhiwatiwa. He wrote:

"To answer the question, our lawyers have worked with the Council of Bishops to involve the American embassy on this matter. We need someone to bring this to the attention of the President of Nigeria."

Bishop Nhiwatiwa's detention was the second incident harassing United Methodist leaders by Global Methodist Church supporters in Nigeria this summer. Bishop Schol visited Nigeria in early July and was accosted by members of Yohanna's cabinet during a meeting. A Facebook video showed him being physically pushed by at least one belligerent Yohanna supporter.

The conflict in the Nigeria Episcopal Area has been going on for several years. United Methodists who wished to remain in the UMC have clashed with former bishop Yohanna and his supporters on many occasions. In several incidents, both clergy and laypeople were detained or arrested on various civil allegations that proved to be false.

The situation in Nigeria is particularly fraught because Nigerian society doesn't separate church and state as in the United States of America. Consequently, religious leaders including Yohanna have used civil means to quell church disputes.

In an essay for Insight, the Rev. Gabriel Banga Mususwa, general secretary of the unofficial caucus United Methodist Africa Forum, alleges that The Global Methodist Church, and the Wesleyan Covenant Association are fomenting unrest throughout Africa by claiming the UMC has become "a gay church." Homosexual practice is either socially taboo or illegal in many African countries.

The WCA's Africa Initiative, headed by the Rev. Jerry Kulah of Liberia, has been implicated by other grassroots African groups as a source of dissension both before and after the 2020/2024 General Conference held April 23-May 3 in Charlotte, N.C. During that meeting, the UMC's highest lawmaking body voted overwhelmingly to remove church bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ clergy and to eliminate language that declared homosexual practice "incompatible with Christian teaching."

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Nhiwatiwa arrested in Nigeria amid promoting homosexuality - The Herald

Zimbabwean bishop arrested in Nigeria as United Methodist Church crisis deepens – The Zimbabwe Mail

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Zimbabwean bishop arrested in Nigeria as United Methodist Church crisis deepens – Daily Post Nigeria

Immigration officials alleged unlawful detention of UMC Zimbabwe Bishop in Nigeria – TG News

Zimbabwean Bishop, Eben Nhiwatiwa Arrested Amidst Turmoil In Nigeria's United Methodist Church – Gistmania

UMC bishop deported from Nigeria over visa issues - The Herald

Nigeria Immigration Reportedly Detains Visiting Zimbabwean Bishop Of United Methodist Church – Sahara Reporters

Zimbabwean Bishop Detained In Nigeria Came To Conduct Election For Church Faction In ... – Sahara Reporters

Zimbabwean Methodist Bishop Arrested In Nigeria - Pindula News

Zimbabwean bishop detained in Nigeria amid escalating Methodist church crisis – The Street Journal

Veteran religion journalist Cynthia B. Astle has reported on The United Methodist Church at all levels since 1988. She serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, an online news-and-views journal she founded in 2011 for marginalized and under-served United Methodists.