Rev. Canon LumenCristi Eboh is an ordained priest of the Anglican Church who recently resigned as a priest of the Anglican Communion, Diocese on the Niger, Anambra State . In this interview with our correspondent ,the priest unveils the crises which led to his decision to resign from the priesthood.
Pls may we know you, sir.
I am Rev Canon Sylvester LumenCristi Eboh. I am the spiritual director of God in Action Adoration Ministry Ogidi, Anambra State.
Recently you quit the priesthood. What was behind your decision?
Firstly, let me say that I did not quit the priesthood. A priest is chosen by God, and I remain a priest ordained in the order of Melchizedek. What I did was to turn in my resignation as priest of the Diocese on the Niger to My Lord bishop Owen Nwokolo.
Alright, so what actually led to your decision in that light?
Well, I have a special call by God to spread his word in peculiar ways, and to minister to souls, heal the sick and bring God’s blessings upon souls. For this reason, I was moved by the Holy Spirit to begin working in a congregation which later metamorphosed as God in Action Adoration Ministry. This course of ministration by me is what I can say instigated antagonism and persecution from angles controlled by Bishop Owen Nwokolo.
Bishop Owen Nwokolo is a respected cleric, and so one would find it difficult to appreciate your story from this perspective. Can you throw more light on the matter?
Well, no one would question the fact that My Lord Bishop Owen Nwokolo is well read and exposed, and occupies a very relevant seat in the body of bishops in Nigeria both Anglican and Catholic. What I am saying is that it was obstacles set and promoted by him that forced me to resign as priest of the Diocese on the Niger. Let me tell you, I have remained for sometime the single largest contributor as priest with congregation, to the diocese. I have given to the church without looking back, and to my lord bishop himself, as God provided. I bought a land and handed over to the diocese, and my financial contributions were unparalleled, and this I say with humility. I am the only priest in the diocese who is not on the salary list because I rejected salary. However my lord bishop later called me and insisted that he wanted himself and his wife to be included as trustees in the registered titles of the adoration ministry. When I prayed about his demand, I got clear revelation that God had different purposes for the bishop, but not within the adoration ministry, and I conveyed this message to him. He threatened to ban my activities within the diocese and to bring me down for this refusal, but I relied on God. Even if they kill me tomorrow, some persons are aware of my correspondences with the bishop on this matter, and by social media exchanges. That is just the problem.
One would expect that the situation you painted, if true, was capable of resolution by friends close to both of you, especially other priests.
That would have been so. Unfortunately, the atmosphere created by the bishop was such that most priests would not come close, many had their own problems with him, while others had been panel beaten into nervous ‘yes men’. A very senior clergy from Onitsha town who could no longer bear the highhandedness of the bishop late last year spoke out by means of a protest letter to the bishop citing instances of intimidation harrassment and insults to priests and their spouses by the bishop and his wife. Once you are not their yes man, you would face manipulations and conspiracies.
How have you therefore been able to cope with these developments vis a vis your vocation as a soul winner?
Thank you very much. The apostle Paul said I planted, Appolos watered, but it was God who kept making it grow. I have come within many conspiracies and threats engineered by forces within the diocese but I have never weavered. Some persons have come to warn me in good faith that I may be assassinated if I do not remove myself from the diocese. Of course the bishop did warn me to stop all my activities within the diocese, but I am strengthened by God and not by man.
There are information suggesting that you are estranged from your wife and that your marriage is broken down. Can you confirm it.
Sadly it is so. My lovely wife within the circumstances of my travails with the diocese suddenly turned tiger. I was not taken aback because God had earlier revealed to me that I would have additional challenge from that quarter. They bought my wife over and she began to antagonize me. As we speak, my wife resides in an apartment paid for by someone who knows that she is another man’s wife. It has really affected me as a young man who is permitted to marry, and who has lived with a woman, because indeed though I am a priest, but like our lord Jesus while he was on Earth, I also eat and drink like a normal human being.
There are reports that you are being investigated by the police for fathering a child through a young girl, how true is that?
Firstly, the police cannot investigate me for fathering a child if it’s just that alone. I am permitted by my communion to marry, and like I said, sadly my marriage hit the rocks. I am working to resettle myself so as to focus but they have also set moles and sidetrackers even within my congregation. Many anointed men of God have suffered similar distractions. I do not want to go into that issue in order not to prejudice the investigations as you said. Note that all these gymnastics are structured sponsored and promoted by forces working to tarnish my image. They have spread different rumours, that I am a sex pervert, a magician who visits Voodoo priests and that I belong to the same cult as prophet TB Joshua. In the case you referred, they said the young lady had schizophrenia and that I exploited the condition to put her in the family way. I am not a doctor, if you have schizophrenia which is a special condition it would be confirmed by a doctor and in that case I would have no business with you but it would be just your doctor. I pray for sick people and those afflicted by foul spirits, yes, but I do not undertake to imperil medical procedures. Like I said, let their investigations be concluded and only then can I answer you.
