Day house of prayer became house of war in Abeokuta
By Ademola Oni, Abeokuta, Published: Saturday, 9 Jan 2010

Traditionally, at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Sodubi Onikolobo, Abeokuta, the first Sunday in January is set aside for thanksgiving. It is a day the congregation is expected to show gratitude to God for enabling them to witness a new year.

That also was the setting at the church last Sunday. The Vicar, Venerable Olumuyiwa Ilekoya, was expected to preside over the thanksgiving service, the first since he became the vicar of the church in July, 2009.

But that was not to be. A disagreement between him and some elders of the church disrupted the Sunday service.

With the church almost filled to capacity, Ilekoya had prepared to make a grand entry into the church’s auditorium when the unexpected happened. Six mean-looking men stood at the entrance to prevent the vicar from going in.

Two of the strangers were armed with guns to underscore the seriousness of their mission. The vicar’s procession crumbled like a pack of cards while a stampede ensued among the congregation as shocked church members struggled to escape from the church’s premises.

But a few members waited to see the people behind the ‘celestial coup’. And they did not wait for long before the Baba Ijo (Father of the Church), Senator Femi Okurounmu got up and directed the church’s Lay Reader, Mr. J. A. Fatade, to conduct the thanksgiving service for the handful of members that waited behind after the vicar had left with some elders of the church.

It then became clear that the Parish Church Council had become polarised between the loyalists of Okurounmu and those of the vicar. It was learnt that Okurounmu, who is also the Secretary

General of the Pan Yoruba Socio Cultural group, Afenifere, had become uncomfortable with Ilekoya’s sermons. The Harvard University-trained engineer was said to have openly complained that the vicar had become too blunt and was fond of raining curses, particularly on the nation’s political leaders, during his sermons.

Okurounmu was also said to have alleged that the cleric had a week before then directed his sermon at him.

While Ilekoya would not entertain questions from journalists who learnt about the unusual development in the church, Okurounmu spitted what was left of his anger. The former Alliance for Democracy chieftain said, “How did you get to know what is happening here? Who told you, and who told you to come? This is a church affair and not a press affair. I don’t want to comment further.” A few hours later, he also responded to a text message sent to him by our correspondent, saying, “The matter is purely for the hierarchy of the church to deal with, and not yet for the press.”

The Bishop of the Egba Diocese of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Rt. Revd. Emmanuel Adekunle, confirmed the development but said the detail of the incident was still sketchy. Our correspondent learnt, however, that the diocese was not taking the matter lightly as Adekunle, who started attending the annual one week retreat of Anglican bishops in Delta State on Monday, was said to have contacted the church’s Legal and Ecclesiastical committees to begin preliminary probe of the incident before his arrival from the retreat on Sunday.

A reliable source in the diocese, who spoke with our correspondent on

condition of anonymity in Abeokuta on Thursday, said the committees would probe the ugly development and recommend appropriate sanctions for the erring parties.

The source said, “Such incidents don’t happen every time. But this is not the first time. We have had such occasions before, and this time, the Diocese will direct the Ecclesiastical Committee to look into the development and see how such crisis could be resolved. We will ensure that justice is done because we have order here and everybody must follow laid down rules.”

The source, however, explained that in most cases, the vicar would be transferred if it was established that the relationship between the PCC and the cleric had broken down irretrievably.

The Administrative Secretary of the Diocese, Venerable Adekunle Masominu, who had worked intermittently in the Diocese since 1999, admitted that the church had received a “verbal report” of the impasse but denied receiving any report or petition from the church before Sunday’s face-off.

“No, there was no report on the incident before then. But we have received verbal reports of the disruption of service and I have also read it in a newspaper like everybody. The Bishop, under whose prerogative the matter falls, is not in town. We will welcome further enquiries when the bishop comes around next week,” he said.

Another highly placed source in the Diocese, who craved anonymity, told our correspondent in Abeokuta on Thursday that the face-off would be the third involving the Baba Ijo and the vicars posted to the church within a few years. The source, who believed that such incident had persisted in the parish because the earlier ones were not addressed, added that the hierarchy of the church was determined to put a stop to the idea of people revolting against vicars that are posted to the church.

“The vicar that was in the church before Ilukoya was demoted and transferred because of a disagreement with Okurounmu. The one before that vicar was transferred to another parish because of another disagreement with the same person. This time around, we

must put a stop to this scenario, and I can tell you that this vicar will not be

transferred,” he said.

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