Alleged crisis in African Church: Uyo, Calabar provinces sack bishops

The ongoing leadership tussle allegedly fuelled by ethnic issues in the African Church is taking a turn for the worse as the Calabar Province of the church has joined her Rivers counterpart to send bishops of Yoruba extraction packing.

Our correspondent learned from a senior clergy in Uyo Diocese that Bishop James Bamilede from Ekiti State who was at Fourtowns, Uyo, and the Archbishop of the Calabar Province,  A. A  Odufuwa have been sacked from their stations since the return of the embattled Primate of the Church, Bishop Emmanuel Udofia penultimate Saturday.

The clergyman who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that apart from Bamidele and Odufuwa, other bishops of western provinces’ origin in Ughelli  and Warri had since been sacked even as Calabar and Rivers provinces are still holding breakaway threat, if the western provinces of the church continued with the harassment  of Dr Emmanuel Udofia,  the current primate,

Our correspondent further learnt that the Calabar and Rivers provinces had during the reception of the embattled primate in Uyo, last weekend, issued a breakaway threat to the arch cathedral of the church in Lagos, if the current primate of the church was not allowed to complete his tenure.

It was also gathered at the reception that Udofia was currently being threatened with sack if he failed to vacate office as  primate by May this year when he shall have turned 60 years being the retirement age for primates of the church.

But South-South members of the church are however of the opinion that a new law could not have been applied on Udofia who was voted into office on the detectof the old constitution which put the retirement age of primates at 65.

Udofia who was warmly received at a very colourful ceremony at St Stephen’s Cathedral of the church in Uyo on Saturday, was told point blank by the laity and clergy of the two provinces made up of Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Delta states, to temporarily relocate to Uyo until the crisis was over, especially with the alleged threats to his life and that of his family by some parishioners of the church in Lagos.

The vice lay president of Warri Diocese, Mr Ezekiel Okorode, who spoke at Dr Udofia’s reception in Uyo, said the indignities to which the Western Provinces of the church had subjected the primate were in a way, bringing victory to Calabar and Rivers provinces.

His words: “Today is a day of victory for our provinces. We have taken a step that will not be easy to reverse. We have told those bishops from the West to go back to their people. They don’t like us, and so we can’t like them. The western provinces must retrace their steps and apologise else it is backward never; forward ever.”

Okorode said that if Udofia, the only primate of African Church who is a non-Yoruba in the 118-year old church could be humiliated by the western provinces, then there was no basis for their continuous pretense to be together.

Another speaker, Justice Ezekiel Enang, who is the legal adviser to Calabar Province, said the two provinces would stand by the General Council’s decision of the church that the current primate  should retire at 65 years after which the new rule of retirement at 60 would take effect.

Also speaking, the medical adviser of the Calabar Diocese, Dr Nathaniel Adiakpan, expressed gratitude to God for preserving the life of the primate to return home alive, saying that was the most important thing.

“Injustice is what is playing out in African Church today. The same people who bombarded us with calls to help them attain certain positions in the church only a few years ago are now the ones causing disunity.

“If Dr Udofia doesn’t enjoy the support of African Church Worldwide, no other primate will enjoy our support,” he said

On his part, the embattled primate, Dr Udofia, said he had not relocated to Uyo, because he still considered himself the primate of African Church Worldwide, as such he would go to the arch cathedral anytime he felt like.

Udofia stressed that it was necessary to pray for God’s intervention in the crisis as he would not want his tenure to be credited with the infamous history of the beginning of fragmentation of the hitherto unified African Church.

“I don’t want the Yoruba living with us to leave in tears. They are not the cause of my leaving Lagos. I’m still the primate of African Church for now because we have decided to seek peace. We want everyone to pray for the church.

“If we allow this to happen, it will affect the entire church. As a church, we would have been better than this but for unnecessary obstacles we bring upon ourselves.”

Udofia, who anchored his message on the Romans 8: 28-39, concluded that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord.