The Real Truth on Rev. Canon Sylvester Eboh and The Bishop of the Niger, Rt. Rev. Owen Nwokolo

Mrs. Eboh Ifeoma, the wife of the embattled Rev. Was never submissive to the husband ab initio.

Rev. Sylvester Eboh has never for one day hot or beat the wife.

Rev. Eboh tendered his voluntarily retirement/ resignation on the 21/12/2021

The wife ran away with the children to an undisclosed location at 3-3 Onitsha to a house being rented for her by Bishop Owen.

The problem between Rev. Lumen Kristi Eboh and his Bishop was as result of not making the latter (Bishop) and his wife trustees in God in Action Adoration Ministry.

The allegedly impregnating of a lady by Rev. Eboh was a concorted story yet to be proven by the law enforcement agencies in a bid to character assassinate the former.

Rt. Rev. Owen Nwokolo has threatened to deal with Rev. Eboh in a text message dated on Wednesday 22 Dec. 2021 at exactly 08:34 PM

The press briefing in Awka on the 10th of March, 2022 and the statements from the deputy Chancellor of the Diocese and the director of communications was done by the orders of Bishop Owen Nwokolo to bring Rev. Eboh to public ridicule.

PROLOGUE:

A Latin adage says, “Veritas Omnia Vincit”….. Truth conquers all things.

According to William Faulkner, and I quote “Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world, would be this, it would change the earth”.

An English proverb which dated as far back at the 18th Century says “Give a dog a bad name and hang him”, hence if a person’s reputation has been besmirched, then he will suffer difficulty and hardship. Those who usually are in these fields do that for the purpose of preventing one’s advancement. The people on the other hand are apt to think poorly of others on weak evidence which is then reinforced by confirmation bias as people give more weight to evidence that supports a preconception than evidence which contradicts it. Most especially when a higher authority is involved; and has orchestrated a level of cult like followership to smear his subordinate in a pugnacious manner.

BACKGROUNG AND GROWING UP

Rev. Eboh was born into a Catholic family. During his secondary school days as a Junior Seminarian; he had to leave as a result of being the only son of his parents. He was never expelled or had issues or altercations with anyone as was being reported by agents hired to discredit him and his reputation. His mother’s sorrowful disposition to the vow of celibacy for Catholic Priests and seeing how the family lineage will be brought to an end; as the body of Christ is one and given his call to serve as a priest of God; he applied and was enrolled as an Anglican Seminarian. He is an Anglican now and would remain so.

EARLY MINISTRY AND ORDINATION

Rev. Eboh Sylvester Lumen-Christ was ordained on the 13th of June, 2010 by the retired emeritus Bishop of the Niger; Rt. Rev Ken Sandy Okeke. After his ordination, his ministry has been orchestrated by zeal for the Lord’s house and the salvation of souls. Fr. Eboh have labored tirelessly in the vineyard of God that he became the most sought priest whenever Revs are being posted to parishes owing to his good heart, priestly anointing, gift of healing, deliverance and his development strategies. He has built parsonages with money people dash him on daily basis; paid off debts of any new parishes he was posted to; and has through his God in Action Adoration Ministry; elevated the image and prestige of his diocese.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Canon .Eboh have in the past donated 78 plots of land to his Bishop; Rt. Rev. Owen Nwokolo, the said land was given to the former; but he chose to gave it to his Lord Bishop; this was when the going was good. Rev’d.Eboh have equally made it mandatory to be given Rt. Rev. Owen a huge amount of money ranging from N500,000.00 to N1,000,000.00; in every programme he held. This does not exclude the numerous gifts he always gives to his Bishop.

Canon LumenChristi Eboh ,built School at St. Barnabas Oze Nkwelle Ezunaka.

He molded ten thousand blocks (10,000.00) at St. Barnabas Oze Nkwelle Ezunaka within a year for the new church building and hosted episcopal confirmation.

He brought the person that graded the Oze community pathway and also wrote to the government through the then Local Government Chairman, Hon. Uche Okafor (Wiper), who later intervened and included culverts in some pathways.

He built Parsonage (a church house provided for a member of the clergy) at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Odumodu Umunya from the foundation.

He finished the church building and dedicated it.

He hosted the “Women International Conference” at St. Paul’s Parish Umunya.

He gave pipe borne water to the Umunya community in Anambra State.

He stopped the fight and communal crises at Odumodu, Umunya and mediated for peace. Those benefitting from the crisis used it as an avenue to write petitions against him to the Bishop.

He built Christ Anglican Church Umudioka. He was the one that started the Parsonage and completed it within a year. Constructed toilets facilities.He however extended the Church building and remains till his resignation, the highest Church donor in every synod.

He stopped the people trying to grab the land of the Church at Umudioka, in their defeated state; they started writing petition against him to the Bishop.

He cleared the assessment debts from 2017 when he was posted to Christ Anglican Church, Umudioka in 2020; he equally cleared the debt/ loan borrowed by the Church from the Diocesan Bank for fencing of the Church building. All these debts were cleared by him through support from friends and well wishers; even when he was not on the pay role of the Diocese, in receiving monthly allowances, which the church treasurer can attests to with members of parochial church committee (PCC). He inherited no structure from the Church at Umudioka; no altar, no seats, no bishop throne; but through well meaning friends; those things where brought to the Church and structures fixed.

He has given 29 persons scholarships from Secondary School to University level. He has helped numerous people coming to his Adoration Ministry seeking for help; many have received instant healing and breakthrough through his ministry by the power of Almighty God.

He has built toilet facilities at Odumodu Umunya and Umudioka respectively.

During Covid-19, he shared huge amount of money to the less privileged and distributed food items to cushion the effect and hunger orchestrated by the deadly virus.

While he was at St. Paul’s Parish Umunya; he attracted a Borehole to the community through a Non- Governmental Organization to salvage the ever prevailing water scarcity facing the community.

PROBLEM WITH HIS BISHOP

The problem with the Bishop emanated when he told his Bishop that he can’t release the documents of the land owing to the revelation he received from God after prayers; when the former communicated to him via text message to submit the documents, or he will withdraw his license and suspend him as a priest of the Diocese on the Niger; if he fails to do so within seven (7) days.

The incident happened on the 2nd of December, 2021 at exactly 3:04pm. We can earlier deduce how the Bishop requested that Rev. Eboh must include him (Bishop) and his wife as trustees of God in Action Adoration Ministry Wonderland Ogidi. The Bishop further issued a threat to the Priest and I quote “You have drawn the battle line. It is a pity that you chose to bite the finger that fed you”. This led to the fracas between the Bishop and the spiritual director of God in Action Adoration Ministry; note that the refusal to concede to the pressures of the Bishop was divinely inspired in-order that the vision of the ministry won’t crumble; since it is a prayer group for both Anglicans and non-Anglicans alike; hence it is not another Church as reported by the Bishop’s spokesman, that he opened another Church, while as an Anglican Priest whereas God in Action Adoration Ministry is simply a “Prayer Fold”, hence it is the duty of every Priest called by God as his the Spirit of God leads to organize the fold of Christ for special prayers and liberation, most especially gifted ones, that God has placed on special assignment on earth; just as our faces varies, so is our talents and gifts from God.

ALLEGATIONS LEVELED AGAINST HIM AND REFUTATIONS

Rev. Canon Eboh was accused of misappropriation of Church funds. Well, the above assertion sounds like a fairly tale and a report issued just to add to other allegations in-order to malign his image; it was the same auditors of the Diocese that have held him in high esteem over the years for his financial diligence, management and track records in keeping accounts and maintaining financial discipline.

If Rev. Eboh is not stable in financial dealings, how was he able to achieve landmark projects for the Diocese?

Even when he sacrificed his salary for the good of the church and to lessen the financial burden of the Diocese.

Can such a person be termed to be misappropriating church funds?

Even when the said person has over the years cleared financial debts of parishes not due to him and maintained the financial obligations, levies etc due to him and till date is the highest donor in the Diocese with regard to clergies.

At the juncture, the public demands evidence of where and how the priest as alleged lavished and misappropriated church funds.

Rev. Canon Eboh was accused of sexual misconduct/ scandal. The representative of the Diocese went further to assert that the matter was in court whereas the matter was still at the police station; and the lady in question has schizophrenia

( a mental disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, feel and behave clearly), your guess is as good as mine; to me; I would rather allow the law to take its full course after investigation, since the law enforcement agencies are still on the matter; and the court to sentence the accused person when found guilty than coming to the media to propagate lies and rumours in-order to tarnish the image of the priest.

There are a lot of stories that aren’t adding up; can the public know why the Diocese hired a law firm to release a petition other than the accuser herself or member of her family? To many, this is a witch-hunt which is clearly motivated to bring the priest to his knees; but truth be told; no one can bring down someone God is helping.

No one, not even the Pope went through what Christ suffered; he was maligned and castigated even from those he regarded as friends; those he fed and those he healed of their ailments; but in all these, he chose to carry his cross on the thorny road to Calvary; We believe, just like Christ, Rev. Eboh is carrying his own cross, because without cross there is no salvation.

Jesus Christ never preached falsehood, he never segregated, he was not power intoxicated nor sought for vain glory; he opted for peace in all his dealings with men; and thus said “Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called the Sons of God”.

In all things lawful and honest (Canonical Obedience), according to the Canon of the Anglican Church.

MARRIAGE ISSUES

Fr. Eboh loved his wife with his soul and body. His love for his wife, made him to seek the best for her in all things. He made sure that he graduated from the university, as he personally purchased form for her at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. He saw the wife all through her first degree and masters and the PHD she is studying currently.

He has invested in her wife so much that it is visible to the blind and very audible to the deaf. For her personal development, he bought machines for the manufacturing of candles which was running smoothly. She has a supermarket which she has never for one day, related accounts to him as the head of the family or proceeds from the business; but notwithstanding, he always take care of her wife needs and that of her kids. Reports have it that people are envious of the love the Priest has for the wife. To ease her transportation stress and that of his kids; the priest bought 2 cars for the wife and till the date she absconded with his kids, has never for a day failed to service them or fuel them.

To my utmost conviction; Rev’d.Eboh loved his wife but was deeply burdened emotionally how his wife was being used to bring him down by agents very close to the Diocese. Canon Eboh have in most prayer sessions; prayed for the wife and he kept seeing evil revelations about his wife; while the spirit of God kept saying he should keep praying for her conversion and always treat her well; and to always turn the left cheek. He has given the wife much love to receive hate and acrimony in return owing to ill advisers and bad friends, who always fabricate lies against him and his ministry. At this juncture, we recall the case of Sampson and how Delilah was used to bring, the most feared man by the Philistines on his knees; what about Portiphar’s wife and how he sent innocent Joseph to jail for refusing to sleep with her and levelled allegation against a poor innocent young man, tarnished his image and brought him to public ridicule; we won’t forget that of Jezebeel who angrily swore to have Elijah killed; what about Gomer who was married to Prophet Hosea, she abandoned him in order to pursue relationships with multiple lovers. Her prodigal lifestyle eventually led to financial ruin and she was forced to sell herself into slavery to satisfy her debts. Despite her betrayal, Hosea rescued her by settling her debts and welcoming her home. A prodigal wife who learned the meaning of true love, her story served as a lived-out-parable, poignantly expressing God’s love for a people who had committed spiritual adultery by worshiping multiple gods.

What about Lot’s wife who lived in Sodom, a city of legendary wickedness. When an angel told Lot and his family: “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back…,” she ignored the warning and was turned into a pillar of salt. Lot’s wife was probably guilty of more than a fateful glance backward. Most likely she abandoned her fleeing family in order to return to the city, thus sharing in its destruction.

What about Herodias, the granddaughter of Herod the Great, she married two of her uncles, Herod Philip I and Herod Antipas. An ambitious and ruthless woman, she hated John the Baptist for thundering against her marriage to Herod Antipas, whom she had married after divorcing his half-brother Philip. John the Baptist was later beheaded.

What about Athaliah who was the daughter of Ahab and probably also of Jezebel, the Bible’s wickedest queen. Married to the King of Judah, she grew paranoid after his death, murdering her grandchildren in order to secure the throne. Thanks to a conspiracy, this ruthless queen was finally overthrown and executed just outside the temple in Jerusalem.

We aren’t forgetting the first mother of creation, Eve, who made the fatal-for-everyone mistake of listening to the serpent’s lie that God wasn’t telling the truth about the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. After taking a bite, she offered it to Adam and the two were ejected from paradise. These history and so many others come to mind while unravelling women as a creature. This is why we must owe it as a duty to always pray for families considering the seed of discords Satan though human elements continues to plant in families and homes. Though we have negative elements; we must also take into considerations virtuous women like Hannah, Esther, Deborah, Rachel, Elizabeth, Ruth, Mary Mother of Jesus etc, and why women who value their homes must always strive to be like them.

Readers and commentators continue to ask why the Church never intervened in Rev. Eboh’s marriage instabilities but went to the media to lay false accusations on him, on matters bothering on domestic violence; which were cheap propaganda to discredit the latter whose only crime was to love his wife and his family excessively; while the agents of the Diocese where using the loopholes to further instigate crisis on the marriage; making his wife not to be submissive to the husband, and always does things to discredit the man he once claimed that he loves and adores so much; and pledged to be with him “To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part”. Hence, the only criteria for dissolution of marriage according to the Bible are Infidelity, threat to life and Death. Fr. Eboh has always been occupied with both Church activities and ministry activities; that one begin to wonder where all the lies reported by the Spokesman of the Bishop emanated from, that his wife left him because of his sexual misconduct and infidelity, whereas during the course of investigations; the Priest has been battling with moles and paid side-trackers from his traducers and enemies of the good works he is doing in the lord’s vineyard; to use the prospects of marriage to manipulate him and drag his name in the mud.

It is on record that Fr. Eboh have always ignored his wife’s nonchalant attitude and bossy nature; investigations equally revealed how the wife of the Rev. has always had quarrels with the workers in the adoration ministry; she has chased the first, second, and third secretary of the Rev. away from working for the Priest out of malicious rumours; that the priest is having illicit sexual affairs with them; trouble emanated when the Priest told her enough in causing havoc in the ministry and allow the voluntary workers do the work of God. She started asserting that the husband is dating his current secretary. Even when the news of how she has been chasing away and instilling fear on church workers have remain object of topic and caricature; well, in life, one should never pray to have a wife that he cannot control; we equally observed the trending saga between the ex first lady of Anambra and how she called a fellow lady ashawo in public during the swearing in of Governor Charles Soludo; if not the camera; no one will believe that the wife of the former Governor can be so erratic and toxic; hence, what about the wife of the Rev., who leave the church at her whims and caprices, without the husband’s notice, makes calls inside cars and stays in the church field for hours, lest the husband hears the discussion,most times sleep outside his matrimonial home without the consent of the husband, and she will start shouting on top of her voices when the Priest tries to caution her on her ways which is not good for the image of the family.

A report has it that the wife secretly has a shop at main market where she sells babies clothes without the consent of the husband. In the year 2014, she bought a land at 3-3 Onitsha, with the name of her sister; when the incident was leaked to the knowledge of her husband, she hurriedly said, she took a loan from their meeting at Nnobi to purchase the land. One could decipher the character of the woman married to Rev. Eboh, I believe everyone has instinct and intellect to decipher situations of this magnitude. Despite all these, the priest was undeterred in loving his wife and kids and remains till date, the greatest supporter of his wife; even in all this travails, the priest sends them money on weekly basis for their feeding and upkeep. The wife has equally attacked and blocked people trying to advise her on social media on the dangerous path she is threading to destroy her family, and being used by the Diocese to bring his husband down, and close his ministry.

REPORTS FROM WORKERS AT GOD IN ACTION ADORATION MINISTRY

Mr. Chukwuemeka Omejieke, a member and a worker at the adoration ministry for more than four years said that he knew Fr. Eboh while he was still at Ozeh in Nkwelle Ezunaka, Anambra State and later became his worker owing to what God has been using him to do in the life of the people. “I have never seen any misbehaviour, immorality, fault and mismanagement is his Ministry”. “He is the type that trust people and take them like his own self”. “He is a man, I can comfortably stand with at any point in time”, he concluded.

He further narrated how the Rev. got a call from his Bishop last year, during a counselling session at the Adoration Ministry, to hand over this property, “God in Action Adoration Ministry” Wonderland, Ogidi. According to him, they discussed it for over three hours and the Rev. told his Bishop that he will pray over it and seek God’s direction on the matter; that he will revert back in a short period after his prayers. The Rev. after prayers told the Bishop that the revelations he received from God was not in line with his (Bishop) decision to submit the said property. He further said that the Bishop gave him 7 days to submit the documents of his Adoration Ministry Ground/ land to him or have him to contend with. The Bishop further threatened him on voice call that the battle line has been drawn. He further narrated the sufferings of the Priest and his zealous efforts towards the development of the Church and any where he was posted.

“To the best of my knowledge, the Rev. has never received any allowances from the Diocese and he has not withdrew any voluntarily support due to the Church in any way; he is very loyal to his Bishop but the new development, to me is traceable to those who wants to bring Rev. Eboh down owing to his spiritual gifts and what God uses him to do in the society with regard to liberating people from bondage irrespective of your Christian background”, he concluded.

Another worker in the Church, who happens to be the sales representative of the wife, narrated her experience with the wife of the Rev.

According to her; she stays in the canteen at the Church and handles the sales of Candle, Liberation Candle, olive oil etc and has never for a day, made account to her husband. She also said that the wife always zooms off whenever a particular number calls her; she will leave to a distant location in the church to answer the call and would stay 3-4 hours on the phone call; whenever she is done with the call, she will tell her to go and prepare food for her husband and wash the dishes and other chores in the house. “The wife of the Rev. find it difficult staying at the house and the shop; she only comes to collect money of items sold; and also lags behind in taking care of the kids”, she concluded. “As someone who is always at the Church; I have never seen where the Rev. has beaten or harassed his wife”, she asserted.

“It was on the 28th of December, 2022, that Rev. Eboh was chased out of the Parish at Umudioka like a common criminal; the Bishop called Police, the Diocesan security and some thugs to threw his things out of the parish and further malign his character”, she concluded.

Peace Nwuda another worker in the church narrated the ugly incident that took place at Christ Anglican Church Umudioka on the 28th day of December, 2022; she said “When arrangement of vehicle was being made for the Rev. and his family to move out from the parish, the wife told her that two bus will be okay to convey their luggages, but she was surprised when the vehicle arrived; the wife started parking her belongings and that of the kids on a separate bus”, she equally noted with dismay how the wife of the Rev. joined the attackers of the husband to be saying evil things against the husband, even when she is still trying to get where the Rev. has gone wrong. Is it from purchasing her form and saw her through Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka; equally saw her through her PGD and Masters; and also the PHD she enrolled currently, yet she was busy fighting her husband and calling him names. She went further to say how the Rev.’s wife shunned everybody who advised her on the part she was threading to destroy her home; to avoid it; that those people who are backing her will eventually lead her astray.

Nnaji Ebere, a worker and friend to the wife of the Rev. When contacted; said that the wife of the Rev., does not like who tells her the truth. She has always been on the habit of accusing her husband falsely on sexual immorality yet without any iota of proof but mare speculations owing to bad eggs around her who can’t stop in their bid to destroy her home and everything her husband has laboured for; she narrated how her best friend made her an enemy for telling her to protect her home at all cost and never giver outsiders chance to come and break her family due to negative and false rumours.

SUSPENSION AND DISMISSAL BY THE DIOCESE

Rev. LumenKristi Eboh turned in his voluntarily retirement otherwise resignation as a priest of the diocese on the Niger on the 21st of December, 2021. To set the records straight, he was never suspended before he tendered his resignation, but the Bishop directed that he be issued a letter of suspension, which was backdated to 20th December, 2021 to make it look like he resigned because of the suspension; the said letter was brought to him by one Venerable Ofoegbu Josiah in the presence of the Parish committee, security men and police officers on 24th December, 2021. I wonder if any person in his or her right senses would write resignation letter after being issued a sack letter from his or her employer. Hence, need to scrutinize the whole scenario and come to a logical conclusion devoid of fallacy.

It was the same Diocese that wrote to Rev. Eboh as the Vicar of Christ Township Anglican Church, Umudioka on the 23rd of December, 2021 under the instruction of Bishop Owen Nwokolo, as the letter was signed by the Chancellor of the Diocese, directing him to hand over to Bishop Owen Nwokolo, documents of the land acquired by his prayer ministry on the basis that there was a petition against him with regard.

QUALITIES EVIDENT IN THE LIFE OF REV. EBOH

Anyone who knows Rev. Eboh would attest to his simplicity, humility and respect for people. He has always greeted anyone that calls him on phone call with, Good day sir, Good day ma, Good evening sir, Good evening ma, irrespective of social status, age and doctrine of the caller. He always returns his calls and pick his calls when called on phone, even amidst large crowds or numbers always in queue to see him during consultations; he usually stop to pray for the people who are far and couldn’t make it to the prayer ground. He is a priest, one can boldly say; that he is accessible and doesn’t discriminate irrespective of the position of the caller in the society.

Rev. Eboh has a strong personal relationship with God evidenced by prayer. He loves God and the Church. This is evident in his numerous development strides and achievements within a short period. He has great interest in serving people. He has ability to work with others. He has great respect for other people even evident on how he relates with his subordinates. He is open to different races, ethnic groups, cultures, religious doctrines and has good social skills; above all, he has the capacity and desire to learn and to serve God through the salvation of souls and liberation of mankind. Rev. Eboh is a humanitarian who have contributed so much for the human race through his vast intervention in sustainable communities, he has mediated for peace on several communal crisis. He has chosen to go hungry that his brothers and sisters might eat. His acts during the dreaded Covid-19 will remain indelible in the hearts of the populace as he shared money and food items amounting in millions of naira to salvage the hunger in the land as brought about by COVID-19 lockdown. Fr. Eboh through his priestly ministry and through the power of God have liberated so many families from the shackles of the enemy and evil spirits, so many testimonies have been attributed to his bended knees to God to intervene in the llives of Christians who always flood the adoration ground in millions.

Rev. Eboh have equally supported the Church in a greater way and have through his numerous interventions brought so much repute to the Diocese of the Niger. This is a man, one would pray to have encounter with; and not join the media brouhaha that is orchestrated by envy, jealousy and rancour. Just like G.J Gurdjieff would say “ I ask you to believe nothing, that you cannot verify for yourself”. Hence the need to scrutinize every information we read online and discern the voice speaking, and to take into cognizance why rumours spread faster than truth.

DOXOLOGY

In the words of Radhanath Swami “Religion is meant to teach us true spiritual human character. It is meant for self-transformation. It is meant to transform anxiety into peace, arrogance into humility, envy into compassion, to awaken the pure soul in man and his love for the Source, which is God’’. The centre of religion is “Love”. Any religion that doesn’t preach love stands to be questioned. Even Christ said that we should love Him, love our neighbour as our self; but what we witness in today’s Christianity is directly the opposite; that people have left the injunctions of God and continue to emphasize on doctrines, which have rather caused disunity amongst us as a body of Christ.

I call on well meaning Nigerians, Christians and ndi Igbo in general to look keenly on this matter and never resort to the terms “Giving a dog a bad name; in order to hang it”

The Priest has tendered his resignation, the Diocese of the Niger should accept it in good faith and stop further altercation and image laundering of the former, which to many; is a clear sign of witch hunt. They should however stop troubling the priest, in whatever way and give peace a chance.

To be continued!

Comprehensive report from the Editor in Chief of Ebube News

Email: ebubenews247@gmail.com

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