Sapele: The crisis rocking the Sapele Diocese, Anglican Communion deepens at the weekend as members of the diocese drown from across Ethiope west, Sapele and Okpe local Government areas of Delta State respectively who converged at the venue of the pre-synod “All Night prayer” organized at the instance of their embattled Bishop at the St. John’s Anglican Church Amukpe aborted the prayer session in their continued effort to send their Bishop, Rt Rev (Dr) B.A Erifeta packing.
The protesters who sealed all the entrance to the main church auditorium with heavy pad lock, while displaying banners and placards at every strategic places within the venue of St. John’s Anglican Church, bearing the inscription, Bishop Erifeta, our church is not your feeding bottle, St. Stephen Sapele, Bishop Erifeta our diocese is not your property, St. John’s Anglican Church Orerokpe, Bishop Erifeta (King Pharaoh leave our diocese alone), enough of bribery and corruption, St. John Amukpe, No synod, No All Night Bishop Erifeta must Go! St. Mark Oghara, formed a large circle outside the church premises singing praises to the glory of God, while chanting unprintable songs at the same time for their Bishop to leave.
At the event which commenced on Friday July 22nd 2016 to the next Saturday 23rd July 2016 morning defiling the heavy rains and the cold weather to prevent Bishop Erifeta and his members that are still loyal to him from gaining entrance into the church.
The ministers who brought security agents to the scene to deprive the church members from their actions were disappointed as the police who came noticed that it was an action beyond their capability since they only met a prayer group but not a riot scene which they were earlier made to believe, and they immediately left for their station, a situation that prompted the ministers and their wives to hold a counter open air prayer session at a nearby primary school till 11pm same day before they departed to their homes.
A dependable source who volunteered comments to journalists, said the aborted “All Night Prayer”, is supposed to be a pre-synod prayer night, a prayer session that kick start the synod celebration, where all diocesan members gather to pray concerning the success of the synod, but due to the rejection of the synod earlier by members of St. John’s Anglican Church Amukpe in collaboration with other churches in the diocese everything has failed this year.
The sources added further that the All Night and Synod of this year, as put in place by their embattled Bishop was a plan by the Bishop Erifeta, as a falsehood to mislead the public that all is well with the diocese, advising that people should take note that it is a grand
design put in place by their Bishop to continue in his atrocities, and to further promote his greed and oppressive regime that has lead the church of God backward.
Another member of the diocese, Chief Elias Ojo who lamented the situation at the diocese called on the primate of the church of Nigeria, Anglican communion to quickly remove Bishop Erifeta explaining that the situation on ground is getting to a stage where the youth and women will use their hands to carry Bishop Erifeta out of the Sapele Diocese, while contesting further that he has never seen a shameless man like this in his life adding that “ no matter what, voice of the people and that of God must prevail”.
A resident of Amukpe Community who also witness the ugly scenario at the St. John’s Anglican Church on Friday evening openly cried out “ wetin, is this the house of God, these people do not have leadership at the top that solve all these problem.” He argued that for peace to remain in the church, Bishop Erifeta should listen to his people and leave.
Meanwhile, members of the St. John’s Anglican Church Amukpe had earlier rejected the synod scheduled to be held in that church, on 27th through 31st July 2016, alleging that the crisis rocking the diocese of Sapele must first be resolved and that the abandoned “Bishops court project at the Amukpe community road, Amukoe must be completed and consecrated before any synod can take place in their church.
