Yesterday,8 Nigerians, Okorom Nhabu
Favor, 36, Izuchukwu Chuwuma, 40, Nnamezie Victor, 30, Simon Maduka
Ukadu, 45, Sunday Nwabusi, 31, Okorom Kizito Chimedu, 35, Francis
Nnamedi, 30, Tony Mmaduka Chuwuonye, 34, and his girlfriend, Cambodian
Morn Vinyung, 31 who were allegedly dealing drugs from a Mountain of
Fire and Miracles Ministries branch had their charges of drug
trafficking upheld on the final day of their trial, and the judge will
release his verdict on September 12.
Despite an admission of guilt from Ms.
Vinyung, Mr. Chuwuonye’s girlfriend at the time of their arrest, all
eight men denied the charges against them, saying they were Christian
missionaries who came to Phnom Penh to open a church.
Captain Proeung Pheap, deputy chief of
the Anti-Drug Unit at the 9th Intervention Police Office in the Ministry
of Interior’s anti-drug department, said the group was using their
Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries church as a front for a drug
ring, hiding their identities and trafficking under the guise of
missionary work.
He claimed police discovered the illegal
operation after Ms. Vinyung delivered drugs to undercover officers
three separate times at the Sovanna supermarket in Chamkarmon district
in January 2015.
“Among these nine accused people, Morn
Vinyung and Francis Nnamedi were arrested after they brought a package
of drugs for sale to our undercover officer,” he said. “The other
accused people were later arrested based on the answers of Morn Vinyung
and Francis Nnamedi.”
The other seven men were arrested when
police raided three rented homes in Chamkarmon district’s Boeung Tumpon
commune in Phnom Penh on January 8 and 9 in 2015.
Police said they had been watching the
group for a long time and alleged that their ringleader, Obieze Kenneth
Uche, was still on the run.
During the trial, Ms. Vinyung said she
had been dating Mr. Chuwuonye, also known as Tony, for three months
before their arrest. She told the court that her boyfriend paid her $100
to take a package to an unidentified man three separate times.
“I admit that I really did bring the package from Tony and gave it to his clients at the Sovanna supermarket, but I did not know that the packages were drugs,” she told the court. “If I had known that the packages were drugs, I would not have agreed to bring them, even though Tony offered to pay me money.”
The eight Nigerian nationals vehemently denied the allegations, saying they were Christians, not drug dealers.
Mr. Chuwuonye acknowledged that he had dated Ms. Vinyung, but said he never asked her to take drugs anywhere.
“I was not a drug trafficker. I am a Christian missionary. I did not do any of the things I am accused of,” he said.
Mr. Victor, the leader of the Mountain
of Fire and Miracles Ministries church in Phnom Penh, said he
volunteered to come to Cambodia from Nigeria as a Christian missionary
in 2014 and has run the church in Chamkarmon district since then.
“Police arrested me while I was praying at my own home. They handcuffed me and called me a drug dealer,” he said. “But I don’t know anything about this case or about any drugs. I am the victim of accusations and arrest by the police.”
He claimed police forced him to confess during an interrogation session.
Mr. Chimedu, Mr. Victor’s brother and an
assistant at his church, said he had nothing to do with drug dealing
but was arrested when police raided his home in Boeung Tumpon commune on
January 8. Police found no drugs or paraphernalia at his home during
their raid, he said.
“I was a church assistant, and my job was to prepare bibles and prayer ceremonies for foreigners every weekend,” he said. “I have never smoked or used drugs in my life. I’ve never even seen drugs.”
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