Bishops Fight Olumba

The crisis in the Brotherhood has deepened as Olumba Olumba Obu is dragged to the police station, the first time he would step out of the sect’s premises in 53 years

By Obong Akpaekong

The crisis currently rocking the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star is deepening. Four bishops of the Calabar-based sect are up in arms against Olumba Olumba Obu, the sole spiritual head of the church and Rowland, his first son, whom he purportedly named as his successor. The bishops said Rowland has introduced “unwholesome” practices and teachings in the church. They also said Rowland now answers Olumba Olumba Obu, which he is not.  The bishops also dragged Olumba to the police on this matter.

The bishops, namely Cyrinus O. Akpan, Asukwo Ekanem, Okpalla Williams and Matthew Ejedawe are unhappy with the “holy father” for appointing his son as the chairman of the Brotherhood executive council and head of the church instead of one of the bishops or Ibum, his first daughter, who are grounded in the affairs and teachings of the church.

The angry bishops have now pulled out of the Calabar headquarters of the sect to establish their own faction in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. Newswatch learnt that the battle between the bishops and Rowland has torn the church into a brotherhood of discord. Each group now tries to woo members to its own fold. For instance, in Akwa Ibom State , ownership of the church buildings is being hotly contested by the factions while campaign  for loyalty of church members has heightened tension.

Besides, the two groups are also struggling to get hold of the updated version of the certificate of trustee of the church, now with the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, Abuja . The bishops, who spoke to Newswatch said the children of Olumba have now taken divine titles that are unscriptural. For instance, Rowland is now said to answer “king of kings and lord of lords” while Ibum answers “Queen Mother.” Ajah, one of Olumba’s daughters has the title “Supreme Mother” while another called Onoghen is addressed as “Blessed Mother.”

Ekanem, one of the bishops told Newswatch that the titles are even against the original teachings of Olumba and are being frowned against by the congregation.  Ekanem also said Rowland had introduced sacrifices into the sect’s practices. According to him, goats, fowls and other animals are now being slaughtered on regular basis in the church premises for ritual purposes. Ekanem insisted that the practice is ungoldly and not in consonance with Olumba’s teachings.

Newswatch also learnt that Rowland has now turned the church’s  144,000 Virgins into a worldly gang. The Virgins are boys and girls who usually sit in the vestry to sing the praise of Olumba. They were supposed to be pure and holy. Ogar Osim is said to be the leader of the 144,000 Virgins.

But Ekanem said they are now “known to be committing immorality among themselves.” He accused them of stubbornness and disobedience. He also said they have become highly materialistic. “They are highly carnal,” he said.

Lovina Amagala Iburene, an ex-member of the church, even said that the so-called virgins nearly beat to death one “Sister Maria.”

The 85-year-old  Olumba, who is said to have now turned blind appointed Rowland, his first son, his successor, head of administration and chairman of the church’s executive council in April 2001.  The appointment sparked protest and counter protests.   The bishops and some members said Rolwand  was almost a stranger to the Brotherhood Kingdom as he had not been involved in the fellowship long enough.

A large number of the members rallied round Rowland. Others were behind Ibum, and the bishops. The polarisation of the Brotherhood membership resulted in violent clashes between Rowland’s supporters and those of Ibum and the bishops. Machetes and other dangerous weapons were freely used in the fights, which took place within the 34, Ambo Street , Calabar premises of the sect and the surrounding Streets. Many people were wounded, with some spending several weeks receiving treatment in hospitals.

The crisis split Olumba’s children into two camps. Obu Olumba Obu who is a bishop, and Olumba’s second son, for instance, pitched tent with the elder sister and the other bishops. The crisis eventually led to the bishops and Ibum, fleeing from  Calabar  to Uyo.

The new Brotherhood headquarters in Uyo, is located somewhere behind the University of Uyo . Ibum  lives within the premises of the church. Some members defected from the Pentecostal centre along the town’s  Ekpenyong Street , to join them. The bishops’ faction of the Brotherhood is also springing up in many states, townships and villages in parts of the country.  Newswatch learnt that efforts are being made to take the new Brotherhood to other African countries as well as Europe and America . Ekanem, however, told Newswatch that their faction of the Brotherhood still worships the same Olumba who he said is God-incarnate.

The 144,000 Virgins of the church, however, pitched their tent with Rowland. On June 29, they addressed a press conference on the crisis ,at the No. 3, Akobi Crescent , Surulere, Lagos cathedral of Brotherhood. Rowland, earlier said to be the one to address the conference was represented by Joseph Dike, a “senior Christ servant,” who came in from Calabar.   Dike read to the journalists an 18-page document entitled: “BCS - The True Perspective,” which traced the history of Brotherhood, spoke about its doctrines and told the story of the crisis.  It blamed the crisis on Akpan, Ekanem, Ejedawe and Williams. The bishops were accused of inciting the members to rebel against the authority of  Olumba and Rowland. They were accused of trying to put their names in the Brotherhood trustees council without consulting Olumba.

The Virgins said Olumba in  November 1991, gave Rowland the divine titles of king of kings and lord of lords,” and Ibum that of “Queen mother.”  Olumba was also said to have, on May 27, 1997 , summoned Brotherhood workers worldwide to 34, Ambo Street , and presented Rowland as the “Christ of God in His Second Advent.” He was also said to have directed that Rowland would from that time be known as Olumba Olumba Obu, explaining   that these were Rowland’s names at birth.  Olumba was also said to have introduced a new sitting arrangement in Brotherhood with Rowland sitting  on his right and Ibum on his left.

The bishops, the Virgins said, did not like all these. “They then started grouping behind Ibum to checkmate him.” The journalists were also told at the conference how the bishops tried to introduce certain practices considered to have been at variance with Olumba’s teachings. They were, for instance, said to have asked for permission to wear skullcaps as is worn by bishops in other religious folds. They were also said to have demanded to sit separate from the congregation and to even sit with the Virgins, and Olumba on the altar. The Virgins claimed the bishops demanded that people who wanted to meet with Olumba should pass through them.

The Virgins also accused the bishops of publishing standing orders conveying executive powers on Ibum, which enabled her take certain actions and even ordered a  re-screening  of the  Virgins, a directive they said Olumba alone could give.

Rowland had, in an earlier interview with Newswatch, accused the bishops of trying to scatter the Brotherhood after his father appointed him head of Brotherhood administration.  He said the bishops would have preferred Ibum who, he said, would be easy to control. He also accused the bishops of trying to hijack the trusteeship of Brotherhood.  Rowland insisted that the bishops, who he described as rebels were dismissed by his father for their roles in the sect’s crisis.   He, however, denied that animals were sacrificed in the church.

Akpan, who had earlier spoken to Newswatch on the crisis  in Brotherhood and the clash between Rowland’s supporters and those of the bishops and Ibum at the  Brotherhood headquarters in April last year  refused to comment on the allegations made  against the bishops by the  Virgins when Newswatch called on him in Uyo. 

But Ekanem reacted sharply. “The bishops are not responsible for crisis in the Brotherhood. Rowland is, he told Newswatch. Rowland, according to him, did not receive Olumba’s backing in all the actions he has taken in the Brotherhood. He said contrary to the claim by the Virgins that the bishops feared that Olumba was ageing and schemed how to take over Brotherhood, it was Olumba’s children, particularly Rowland and Ajah, who nursed the fear and wanted to take over to secure Brotherhood property and estates. Ekanem said he and the other bishops had already become wealthy people before joining the Brotherhood.  He said Ejedawe, an engineer, built Nicon Noga Hotel in Abuja and was the first manager of Nicon Property. He said the bishop was responsible for the development of most physical structures of BCS. Ekanem said as  Olumba’s  overseas representative, he  spent a lot of his personal money in setting up Brotherhood centres in parts of the world including Newark , New Jersey and Brooklyn , all in the United States of America . Williams was said to have donated the secretariat, and the worship hall, among other structures, at the  Calabar  headquarters.

“I do not see any of the bishops having interest in Brotherhood property or money. We are interested in promoting the kingdom,” he said. Ekanem said Olumba offered him salvation when he joined Brotherhood in 1970 and he decided to stick to him and to draw many others worldwide to embrace the good thing  found in a black man. 

The bishops are insisting that Olumba did not make his son head of Brotherhood. They said as sole spiritual head of BCS, Olumba cannot have a deputy or successor during his lifetime. “Leader O.O. Obu is the only “king of kings” and “lord of lords” that we know. The father,  son and the holy spirit are all in him,” Ekanem said. He argued that Rowland, being human cannot answer the title of “king of kings” and “lord of lords,” nor can he be “God the son.”

He said members of Brotherhood were also not happy with Olumba’s children for the divine titles they had taken. They argued that they were human beings full of faults and could not merit such titles.

Ekanem also denied that the bishops ever wanted to put on the skullcap as alleged by the Virgins. He said Olumba was always teaching his followers to be humble, adding that the bishops would not have sought for any exalted sitting arrangement that did not come from Olumba.

Ekanem also denied allegations that Olumba dismissed them from Brotherhood. There is no dismissal or suspension in Brotherhood. We left on our own to further Olumba’s instructions and preserve his teachings,” he told Newswatch.

The retired navy captain recently published a 48-page book entitled  “Beware, Judgment Has Started in the Kingdom.” In the book, he  traced the origin of the Brotherhood crisis. He insisted that Olumba is God and persuaded Brotherhood  members to pitch their tents with Ibum and the bishops. He claimed Olumba predicted the split in the church during a message he gave to his followers on Easter Monday, 2000.

In the book, which Ekanem is still distributing to members of the Brotherhood and the public, he said Olumba chose Ibum to administer Brotherhood not Rowland. “The father had issued out a circular on 13^th October, 2000 stating his preference for carrying the administration of Brotherhood of the Cross and Star. He appointed Ibum Olumba Obu, the Queen Mother, to do the administration for him,” the book stated. The book claimed that Olumba announced Ibum’s position on the 25^th of October, 2000 . He claimed it was on this day that those who did not want Ibum to head Brotherhood administration started a revolt. 

Williams, in a separate interview with Calabar-based journalists was also quoted as saying the bishops quit 34, Ambo Street for the safety of their lives. “If you threaten a human, he will run for his life,” he said. Williams said Rowland was not the recognised leader of Brotherhood,  because, according to him, Rowland was not anointed for such job by Olumba.

As for the Virgins, Ekanem said they were hardly virgins. He accused them of committing immorality among themselves. He said they were stubborn and disobedient and that unlike the Christ witnesses and students, another set of youngsters serving full-time in the Brotherhood kingdom, the Virgins were very materialistic. He said many of them had radio and television sets in their hostels and were listening to music all the time. He accused them of wearing very costly materials. “They are carnal, he insisted. Ekanem said  on one occasion, Olumba asked him to speak to or advise them to put  away  disobedience, carnality and worldliness from their midst. He said  the  body was set up by Rowland to challenge and malign Olumba, noting that the youngsters did not know much about Brotherhood, let alone address a press conference on the crisis within the organisation.

Iburene, a former evangelist of BCS who claimed to have been Olumba’s representative in Lagos and some other places while she was in the organisation, also descended heavily on the Virgins. She sent a four-page letter to Newswatch the week the Virgins addressed the press, saying they did not know Olumba well enough  or his son, Rowland to speak to the press about them. Iburene also accused them of disobedience, noting that Olumba has been preaching against their lifestyles and lamenting that parents sent their disobedient children to him. She, however, said a few of them, personally selected by Olumba, were good.

Iburene also said there were quite a number of bullies among the “virgins” and that in 1999, they  insulted and almost beat up Williams. Their action, she said,  infuriated Olumba, who asked them to apologise but they refused.  She said they later apologised when Olumba threatened to send them back to their parents. She alleged that the Virgins  in 1998 nearly beat to death one “Sister Maria,” a member of the church she claimed sold the plot of land Brotherhood erected a building for the  “virgins” on the 34, Ambo Street premises.

Maria’s offence, according to her was that she invited a female visioner to a feast held in her residence who described them as “agents of the devil.” According to Iburene, Olumba and Rowland practically begged the lady not to take the matter to the police.

Iburene said Deji Ayinde, a Lagos lawyer and pastor of the Akobi Crescent Cathedral and Mercy Ute Ushede, a deaconess of the church and Olumba’s Lagos representative who co-ordinated the press conference, were ignorant of Olumba’s evil nature.  She argued that the bishops and their supporters were not the ones sowing seeds of discord in the church, but that the time had come for God to expose Olumba and his work. 

Iburene, who claims she accepted Jesus before leaving Brotherhood now runs the Truth Transport Evangelical Ministry, based in Badagry, Lagos State. She claimed that God called her out of Brotherhood to, among other things, expose evil perpetrated in the Brotherhood Kingdom as well as the evil nature of Olumba. She had earlier written two books proclaiming that Olumba was God and calling on the world to worship him. She said she wrote the book out of ignorance.

But Ogar Osim, leader of the Virgins, denied that the Virgins were immoral or troublesome.

Ibum is said to be in possession of Brotherhood accounts and documents in major Nigerian banks namely First Bank, Union Bank and United Bank for Africa , UBA. She is also said to be keeping the cheque books of Brotherhood’s London account. She pulled out of the church soon after her father gave her power of attorney to supervise Brotherhood property, take charge and operate Brotherhood accounts on his behalf in a letter signed by Olumba on March 28, 2001 . She did not return the books of accounts.

Newswatch learnt that her refusal to return the accounts books to the father has put the Calabar group in serious cash squeeze situation. Rowland told Newswatch that he had taken her to court to hand over the accounting books. But the case is yet to be decided.

This is not the only matter the Brotherhood brethren are sorting out in the court of law. Ibum is also said to have been taken to court to give information on the sect’s landed property and estates worldwide. She had been in charge of all these during her days as general secretary of the Brotherhood.

The police in Calabar recently invited Olumba to their headquarters on Diamond Hill area of the town in their attempt to resolve the issue of trusteeship of the Brotherhood. This was when officials of the Corporate Affairs Commission went to the city to verify the claims of the two Brotherhood factions on the membership of the trustee council. They were said to have requested that the meeting hold outside 34, Ambo Street . The bishops were also said to have made the same request to the police.  Rowland, Newswatch learnt, informed his father and later drove him in a Nissan Quest car to the police headquarters. This is said to have been the first time in 53 years that Olumba would have left Brotherhood premises. 

News quickly spread around that the man who many believed was long dead or gone blind was in the police station.  A large crowd was said to have gathered outside the police station to catch   a glimpse of the man. The police later issued a statement denying responsibility for that exposure of Olumba, whom many saw as humiliating.  The bishops’ faction also denied responsibility for the action.

The dispute over Brotherhood council of trustees has been on for five years. The Corporate Affairs Commission registered Brotherhold of the Cross and Star as a religious organisation in 1957. Over the years, three of the four registered trustees died, leaving only Olumba.

There are two versions of the story on the attempt to replace the three dead members of the trustees. Rowland claimed that the bishops, had without due consultations with Olumba, tried to replace the names of deceased trustees with Cyrinus Akpan, Okpalla Williams and  M.O. Ejedawe.

He said they connived with officials of the Cross River State Social Welfare Division and some officials of the Corporate Affairs Commission to affect the fraud. The plan, according to him, leaked before the certificate was issued. They were stopped and the certificate was not issued.

But Akpan and Ekanem claimed Olumba had in 1998, nominated Akpan as representative of Brotherhood members from Akwa Ibom, Williams as representative of Igbo-speaking Nigerians in Brotherhood and Ejedawe as representative of Nigerians from other tribes in the trustee council to replace the trustee members who had died. 

They said Rowland learnt about it and approached his father to put his name but his father refused to do it. Rowland was said to have later prepared a separate list of board of BCS trustees for the commission, which had 12 names including those of all Olumba’s nine siblings. The list was said to have been put aside by the commission.

Ekanem said soon after this, (1998) the trustee application form disappeared for several months from the Corporate Affairs Commission offices. When it was eventually found, the Corporate Affairs Commission officials started fresh investigations into the controversy surrounding the trusteeship. He said the commission eventually declared that even though there was crisis in Brotherhood, Olumba’s nomination for the trustee council was for real. The commission has, however, not released the certificate till today. 

The Brotherhood crisis is already causing a lot of concern to the organisation’s members within and outside the country. Last Tuesday, Parkson Edjeketa, who until a couple of months ago, was Brotherhood’s missionary in Norway , walked into Newswatch ‘s newsroom in Lagos and lamented that the crisis was giving Brotherhood too much negative publicity. Edjeketa, a member of Universal New-World Missionary Crusade Fellowship, Brotherhood’s foreign service wing, however, argued that the problem the church was passing through was no crisis.

Edjeketa, who belongs to the Calabar faction described what was happening in Brotherhood as  “separation of the sheep from the goats. “He described the bishops as rebels saying they did not know what they were doing. Edjeketa said although some weak members of Brotherhood may have quit during the period, many members of the church had been strengthened in their faith. Edjeketa described Olumba as “God of the universe.”  He said Olumba will never die.  Edjeketa said at the appointed time, the crisis will come to an end.

Reported by Geoffrey Ekena.

Newswatch Volume 36 No 9, September 2, 2002

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