The information was transmitted by the police spokesman in Luanda, Nestor Goubel, stating that the corporation began to develop a police operation "leading to guarantee compliance with the interdiction order issued by the court".
According to the police official, the measure arises due to the "repeated violation of the injunction by some religious leaders and believers of the UCKG".
"In the initial phase of the criminal process that took place against the universal church, the police were requested to accompany the sealing of these temples and also to guarantee their inviolability", recalled Nestor Goubel.
In view of the decision that guides the restitution of the temples, he stressed, "there is a need for the court to notify the police authorities so that the bans can be lifted and also to give instructions on the entity responsible for the reception of the properties".
"That's why the police in Luanda are appealing to all believers to respect the administrative procedure for the definitive delivery of the temples", exhorted the police superintendent.
A judgment by the Luanda District Court, dated March 31, 2022, acquitted the UCKG pastors of the crimes they had been accused of and ordered the "lift of the seizures and the immediate return" of the temples, closed two years ago, as he said on Tuesday Bishop Alberto Segunda.
Alberto Segunda (leader of the Brazilian wing), who was speaking at a press conference, reported that the reopening of the UCKG's temples a week ago was followed by alleged "threats and intimidation" by officials from the National Institute of Religious Affairs (INAR) and police officers against their faithful.
The bishop asked, on the occasion, for the intervention of the President, João Lourenço, to "mediate the conflict" that persists, especially in relation to the more than 100 temples, and for "special attention" to the more than 500 thousand faithful.
The direction of the UCKG recognized by INAR is headed by Bishop Valente Bizerra Luís, who coordinated the reform commission that came into conflict with the Brazilian leadership of the UCKG in 2019.
Both wings - the one of Brazilian origin, now led by the Angolan Alberto Segunda, and the dissident Angolan wing, led by Bizerra Luís - claim to be the legitimate representatives of the church founded by Edir Macedo.
The UCKG has more than 100 temples of its own spread across 18 provinces.
