The hostilities degenerated to the extent that the violent congregation
locked the bishop, other members of the clergy and youths in the cathedral
during a service, last year that it took the breaking of the keys of the
burglary proof and gate for them to get out. Saint Luke Cathedral, Sapele, is
perhaps the only Anglican Church in the state where the members worship God in
such a manner and even unbelievers are shocked as to why children of God would
not bury the hatchet. The dispute erupted several years ago and efforts to
resolve the conflict amicably have hit the wall. Primate, concerned bishops
wade in Recently, the Bishops of Warri diocese, Rt Rev, Christian E. Ide, Oleh
diocese, Rt Rev U Aruakpor and Erifeta himself went on a troubleshooting
mission to notable members of the diocese, including Sir Newton Ejiro Omoko
(JP), Chief E.K. Gbragada, Chief Omatseye One of Warri Kingdom, Sir, Simon
Agbaroli and Chief J.I. Efemini a prominent Chief in Idjerhe Kingdom to let
bygones by bygones, but there was no headway. A source, however, said the
matter was now at the table of the Primate of the Anglican diocese, who
summoned the parties for a meeting, last Wednesday, but it was aborted because
of his engagement. He added: “The primate will reschedule the meeting for
another day if it has not been done already.” Our complaint against Erifeta –
Aggrieved worshipers The parishioners submitted a 67-point allegation against
their bishop ranging from financial impropriety to stealing and immoral
activities. A member of the Saint Luke Cathedral, Sapele, who accused Erifeta
and his supporters of standing the truth on the head, told NDV: “The first sign
of trouble was in April 2014 when he (Erifeta) allegedly disbanded the over
100-member choir of the church.
Some elders of the church, some between the ages of 70-90 years went to
beg him and he practically chased them out of his office, vowing to set up his
own choir. “As we speak, the building (church) has been abandoned and taken
over by weeds while inside the auditorium is dirty, a sign of not being used,
over a long while. We worship outside, along Boyo road, near the cathedral. You
can see that we have erected canopies to conduct their services every Sunday. “Since
we started worshiping outside, we have witnessed a lot of revival as many of
those who left the cathedral on account of Bishop Blessing Erifeta’s alleged
unbearable attitude have returned with several positive testimonies.” He added:
“You asked why we worship outdoors, the outside worship is to protest the
continued stay of the bishop. Some of the allegations against the bishop among
others were that he denigrated the church when he turned his staff upside down
in the altar and placed curses on members of the church, mismanagement of
church funds, abuse of elders of the church and all that. Crumbling pulpit “Is
it not strange that the pulpit of the church collapsed when the bishop was
having bible study with his clergy on 17th Feb 2015, and recently the pulpit of
Our Redeemer Anglican Church Sapele, crashed when the bishop was studying with
his priests on 27th September 2016? He however promised to fix it,” he said. He
asserted: “Regrettably, the bishop failed to get read the handwriting on the
wall even after one of the priests, Venerable O.E Okpara, who preached in the
cathedral using the platform of the pulpit after it was repaired, died weeks
later.” His words: “After this incidence, the members of the church wrote a
petition to the primate elucidating on the above allegations against the
bishop. Members have expressed grave concern and dismay on the insincerity of
the church authority to uphold the truth.
The matter has been to the domain of traditional rulers in the area,
Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, Zone 5, Benin City, court, etc.
Supposed prejudice “The people perceive injustice by the church authorities and
this has made the resolution difficult. It was reported that the panels set up
by the church authority was skewed to give the bishop an advantage and the
people rejected them, insisting that there must be fairness,” he said. Contrary
to the stand of the spokesperson of the church, he said: “All the Anglican
churches in Sapele and environs are unanimous on the bishop’s removal as they
have stopped remitting money to the diocese until Bishop Erifeta is removed.
Currently, all the churches are witnessing massive development since the
stoppage of assessment.” An elder of the diocese, Sir Simon Agbaroli, who spoke
to NDV, said his grouse against the bishop was that he is power drunk and
arrogant. Another elder, Pa Daniel Erabor, said the diocese could only move
forward if Erifeta was removed. A worshipper, Mr. Ufuoma Mudiaga, disagreed
with them, saying even if the bishop erred as a human; the church should pardon
him and give him a second chance to correct his wrongs. Petitioners can’t prove
allegations – Akure, PRO Public Relations Officer, PRO, of the church, Mr.
Churchill Akure, told NDV: “The members in question brought allegations against
the bishop and when a committee was to be set up in the province of Bendel,
they said they do not have confidence in the chairman of the committee and
picked the Bishop of Warri diocese, Rt Rev Ide, as their preferred chair. “They submitted their allegations without
evidence and Bishop Erifeta responded with evidence. When the chairman of the
committee asked them to bring their evidence, they asked to be given the
response of Erifeta and the evidence he adduced, which the bishop objected to
and that was how the sitting was aborted,” he said. According to him: “The
Anglican Church is a church with constitution and if anybody misbehaves, that
person will be disciplined, this issue is already in court and these people
have a way of instigating people and at the end, they will do it as if (PRO)
instituted this publication.” He, however, said: “But let me set the record
straight, the choir became so unruly to the extent that a choir will challenge
a priest during a sermon. What led to the disbandment of the choir was when a
member of the choir shouted at the bishop during a sermon, and it was becoming
a tradition in Saint Luke. “The Disciplinary Committee took the decision to
disband the choir, the decision to disband the choir for the offence was a
diocesan broad decision and not the bishop’s decision and let it be known that
the bishop has the right to discipline anybody in the church. But after plea
from some of the members who came to beg for forgiveness, they were recalled.
“Talking about the bishop walking out an elder, the same attitude is what you
are seeing, what was the mission of the elder, a child did wrong and was placed
on punishment, and a man who cals himself an elder never see anything wrong in
what the child does, rather, you are telling the bishop that he cannot disband
the choir because they have been there before he was made the bishop,” he said.
Evil men in the House of God Mr. Akure added: “These people are just a bunch of
evil men in the church.” Asked if the bishop was aware of the outdoor worship
by the members, he said: “It is no longer news because they chose to worship
outside. I had felt this group of persons should be ignored on the grounds that
they were merely seeking attention, but as it is, they should be called to
order.” He further disclosed: “On Tuesday, July 28. 2015, the diocese was
besieged by some persons in the cathedral, who felt aggrieved by the bishop.
They felt the best way to express their grievances was to embark on a violent
protest by locking the bishop, clergy and youths inside the cathedral during
the diocesan youth synod. We had to break the keys of the back burglary proof
and the gate for the bishop and all others to get out. “As though that was not
enough, they were the ones who locked the cathedral doors and gates that no one
will go in or out until the Primate comes, the bishop pleaded with us not to
speak or fight back,” he said. The spokesperson said the allegations against
the bishop of Sapele were all sentimental and baseless, adding: “Saint Luke is
not the only church in Sapele, it is just the cathedral and if the diocese must
grow, then, the cathedral must take its rightful position. The Saint Luke has
been known for many bad reports in the past, it is on record that it is not the
first time these same people are locking the church in protest, even before
Erifeta became a bishop. “He has not given them room to continue in such bad
light and had regularly cautioned them, which some of them felt was an insult.
Lies upon lies “The bishop is alleged to use diocesan money to buy cars. Well,
I am still expecting them to show me one of the cars because my bishop has not
used the kind of car we want him to drive. “For about three years now, the
bishop has been driving only one car, Venza, which was bought through a bank
loan, as there was no money to make full payment to the dealer. “Some
parishioners, who felt embarrassed seeing the bishop drive only one car to
local and inter-state meetings, raised a motion asking that modality be put in
place for another car to be bought. This was at one of the board meetings and
it was also agreed at the clergy staff meeting held on June 4, 2015. So how
come they now allege that the bishop squandered money on expensive cars?” His
words: “Again, they alleged that the bishop takes all his family members
overseas every time. I wonder how people will forget so soon that during the
diocesan synod, the issue came up and it was not confirmed from records that he
uses diocesan funds to that effect. I do not know where they got that information
from. “The trip of the children to Ghana sometime ago was not
diocesan-sponsored and that the children attend school abroad is not part of
the diocesan budget. “The allegation that he runs the Holy Trinity Grammar
School, Okwuvo as his private business is laughable because the school has a
board of governors that meets regularly. Precisely, they met November, last
year. Decisions were taken and thus far, no embezzlement or mismanagement has
been reported, and the school is still progressing.” On payment of assessment,
he asserted: “The bishop does not give Saint Luke assessment that they are
refusing to pay. It is one of the ways to show their disobedience to the
bishop. It was the same diocesan process of audit of the previous year’s
account and allocation of assessment, which the finance and diocesan board
approved that is still operational. Panel indicted Saint Luke “And their
records have not shown any oppressive billing so far. It was the Barrister S.O
Ekome panel, following the decision of Synod 2013 to find out and audit all
churches’ accounts, which revealed this. The Saint Luke was indicted by their
reports. The true sense of it is that Saint Luke has been a point of prayer for
long now. Why should they hold the bishop responsible for their obvious
challenges.” Mr. Akure noted: “The youths are being sponsored by certain elders
and priests to disorganize the diocese. One thing is if these people have good
intention for the church, why will they bring area boys to lock the bishop and
youths inside the church. I have videos of this harassment with me.” He
remarked that Saint Luke alone does not own the bishop and the diocese,
admonishing, “They should in the interest of peace, sheathe their swords, they
should not allow others grieved by their attitude to start coming out with
their counter protests. “Bishop Erifeta is a man of God not without mistakes,
he has done well to lead us, he loves the Bible, and he delights more in
teaching it and in prayers. No one should discourage him from continuing. He
learns every day as he leads us and has improved on himself greatly. So, no one
should drag us backward. At the synod, he pleaded with this people to come and
join in rebuilding the diocese; rather they have chosen their normal path. I
wish them well.”
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