By Chuwang Dungs, Jalingo
A magistrate court in Jalingo, Taraba state has granted bail to three United Methodist Church Priests and a member detained for allegedly spying on the property of the Nigerian Police, Taraba state command headquarters in Jalingo.
Judicial magistrate Bartholome Vakkai Kaigama, ordered the release of the clergymen, Rev. Ande I Emmanuel, Rev. Ignatius Jesse, Pastor Ahmed A Ahmed and Mr. Nicodemus Heman who were earlier accused and remanded at the National Correctional Center in Jalingo for violating national official secret act. 
The incident provoked the police authority which led to their arrests and detention.
According to the prosecution, the clergymen and the laity secretly took pictures of some sensitive locations in the command headquarters which includes the Criminal Investigative Department (CID), the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) and other areas and attaching same photographs to the Church foreign partners. An act which the said violates National Official Secret Act”
The accused persons were on 22nd June 2021 remanded at the National Correctional Center in Jalingo the state capital.
The accused then filed bail application through their lawyer which were accepted by the court and ordered their release.
While passing judgement on the bail application at the Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed National industrial/Magistrate Court Jalingo, Magistrate Vakkai, said the accused persons will be granted bail after fulfilling the bail conditions. 
“The accused persons will be granted bail with the following conditions, the accused persons will: 1 Deposit their international Passports to the Court, pending the determination of the case by the court, 2 the accused persons will not travel out of the state for more than three weeks without notifying the court.3. That each of the accused person must provide two guarantors who must be landlords within Jalingo metropolis and would pay the sum of N2,000,000 in an event that any of the accused goes missing”. He stated.
Magistrate Vakkai, then adjourned the case to 19th of July 2021 for the next hearing, noting that the essence of adjourning the case is to allow the police carryout further investigations.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the bail relief Rev. Ande I. Emmanuel said they are grateful to God for the bail granted to them and expressed optimism that they will be vindicated at the end.
“I am a pastor of the United Methodist Church in full connection, I have served the Church for 18 years without a single query in my record, I was invited to the court, as a law abiding citizen, I have to avail myself here. We are law abiding citizens, we will never indulge in any act that will breach public peace and security. So, we are been accused of something we know nothing about”.
He then called on all the members of the Church to be calm, noting that the case is a mere allegation and God will always vindicate his people.
Also, reacting on the decision of the court, the UMC leader in Nigeria, Bishop John Wesley Yohanna said he was shocked that the case involving his clergymen and the Nigerian Police Taraba State Command had escalated to this level despite the church earlier intervention on the issue.
“Initially, when I heard that a letter of complain was written to the Commissioner of Police Taraba State Command about our Church and that some of my Pastors and members were invited to the station for interrogation, I quickly wrote to the Police Command pleading with them to withdraw the case from the police station, because it was a church matter and we would like to handle the case within the church, but I was so shocked to my bones when I heard that my pastors and member were charged to court and remanded in the Nigerian Correctional Center for allegedly spying on the property of the Nigerian Police headquarters Taraba State Command” He said.
Bishop Yohanna, however called on members of the United Methodist Church to be calm and be law abiding citizens as the Church will do everything within it reach to help the Pastors and the member in this trying moment.