20 Years Of Unending UMCN Crisis: Inside Battle For ‘Church Wealth, Properties’

·         Members Tired, Accuse Leaders Of Fueling Crisis For Selfish Gains

·         Gov Kefas  Not Supporting Any Faction – Lawmaker

·         Three dead, Properties Destroyed as UMC, GMC Members clash in   Munga Dosso

 

Many members of the United Methodist Church of Nigeria UMCN are worried that the crisis rocking the church is not near ending after over 20 years.

 

The members who spoke to Taraba Truth and Facts newspaper said the Church and it's several breakout factions are fast losing focus on the spiritual growth and heavenly goals for 'selfish ambitions and financial gains.'

 

The members believed that many leaders of the various breakout groups of the church are busy fighting for church properties and money instead of going after lost souls.

Some worshippers, speaking with our reporter, expressed disappointment over the government's failure to resolve the ongoing crisis, which they believe is jeopardizing peace and security in the state.

 

"When will peace return to UMCN, we have been in this crisis for more than 20 years and ordinarily the leaders are just using the members to advance their selfish interests, they are using members to fight for properties, foreign donations and church money. This crisis in UMCN has not benefited any member but the leaders are feeding fat from it. The leaders are crisis merchants who will be irrelevant in the UMCN if this crisis is resolved today. All the leaders wants to be Bishop, they want to control the church wealth in the name of fighting for God or for the church, it's very unfortunate," a member who pleaded not to be name said.

 

Investigation revealed that most of the UMCN churches within Jalingo have been taken over by the newly formed Global Methodist Church including the sprawling headquarters on Yola Road while the churches in Karim Lamido and Zing LGAs are controlled by the Rev. Micah Dopah group.

But the contentious church cathedral at Magami-Jalingo and the Mc Bride church, said to be the two largest auditoriums of the church, have been confiscated by state authorities to prevent an outbreak of violence.

Meanwhile, the crack in the general church has led to the emergence of three distinct groups with two bishops.

The UMCN only recently elected Rev. Emmanuel Ande as its bishop at a conference in Ghana. Ande was an aide to the erstwhile bishop of the UMCN, Bishop Yohanna John-Wesley- a founding member of the newly formed Global Methodist Church.

John Pena Auta was also elected bishop of the Global Methodist Church at San Jose, Costa Rica during the General Conference in September.

At present, there is palpable tension in the church concerning its prized asset: the headquarters on Yola Road in Jalingo, the state capital. There is presently a tight security presence made up of well armed members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the police and the local vigilantes.

The gate is locked with a chain and padlock by local security and opened only after a thorough check on visitors.

However on Sunday, three persons have been confirmed dead following a violent clash between worshippers of the United Methodist Church in Nigeria, UMCN, and the Global Methodist Church, GMC, in Taraba State.

 

The crisis erupted on Sunday in the Karim-Lamido local government council after one faction reportedly unsealed a church building for service.

 

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Usman, said the incident occurred in Munga Dasso village of Karim-Lamido council.

 

"There was a crisis in Karim-Lamido Local Government Council, which led to the killing of three people," he said.

 

He added that six suspects have been arrested, and security forces have been deployed to prevent further violence.

According to Rev. Alim Thomas, District Superintendent of Munga Dosso said the crisis started when GMCN members entered the main UMCN church in Munga Dosso under the guidance of former Bishop John Wesley Yohanna, despite a directive from Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas instructing that the church remain locked to maintain peace.

According to Rev. Alim Thomas, District Superintendent of Munga Dosso, the situation escalated when UMCN members confronted GMCN members about their unexpected presence. Unbeknownst to them, GMCN members were armed with guns, machetes, and knives, heightening the situation to deadly proportions. "The GMCN members became aggressive, using their weapons to attack UMCN members, which resulted in one fatality," Rev. Alim Thomas reported.

 An eyewitness said "Following the shooting, UMCN members pursued the GMCN members but were unable to apprehend them. In the heat of the moment, UMCN members returned and set fire to the houses of the GMCN members.  We are working to promote calm and restraint within Munga and Bukachi a village next to Munga Dosso village"

To mitigate tensions, the state government had previously sealed church properties across the region, but Sunday's incident reignited hostilities.

 

 

·         This  fresh round of crisis is fuel over control of major church properties in the state. Gov Kefas  Not Taking Sides In UMCN Crisis – Lawmaker

The member representing Ardo state constituency at the Taraba State House of Assembly, Hon Happy Joshua Shonruba on Sunday disclosed that the Taraba state governor, Agbu Kefas is working tirelessly to end over 20 years leadership feud rocking the United Methodist Church of Nigeria (UMCN) in the state.

Shonruba, who stated this while briefing journalists in Jalingo warned those accusing the governor of taking sides in the Church leadership crisis to desist.

"A week ago, the leadership of the Southern Conference of United Methodist Church sent me and the former Commissioner of agriculture and natural resources, Dr David Ishaya Kassa, to Ghana as observers in the recent election of United Methodist Church of Nigeria where they elected their new Bishop.

"On returning from Ghana, those who do not want peace in the Church began to spread fake rumours that the governor sponsored me and the former Commissioner of Agriculture to go for the election which is not true" he said.

He urged critics of the governor to leave him out of the ongoing feud rocking the Church, adding that the governor was for peace and want the Church to become one.

He hinted that Taraba Assembly had three members who belonged to the United Methodist Church, stressing that they were working round the clock to see that the governor seat with the warring factions to ensure that permanent peace was restored.

 

 

The two groups are pitted against each other over the ownership of the headquarters of the church in Jalingo, which is currently occupied by the Global Methodist Church.

A cleric of the church and Director, Connectional Ministries of the UMCN southern conference, Rev Philip Micah Dopah, while speaking with journalists asked the Global Methodist Church in Nigeria (GMCN) to vacate the headquarters of the church, promising to raise funds to enable them build their headquarters in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.

Dopah who condemned the taking over of the United Methodist Church Nigeria (UMCN) headquarters in Jalingo by the breakaway faction, the Global Methodist Church in Nigeria (GMCN), hinted that the GMCN are bankrupt and therefore needed assistance to enable them to survive.

Dopah said: "The breakaway faction of UMCN now Global Methodist Church (GMCN) are frustrated and are currently facing financial difficulties.

"And that is making them to illegally acquire properties of the United Methodist Church of Nigeria, which is unacceptable.

 

"I have personally volunteered to render my free help to raise funds to enable them build their headquarters and leave that of UMCN alone."

Warning of the consequences, he added that nemesis would catch up with them if they refused to repent.

But in a swift reaction, the Global Methodist Church said they have legal documents on the ownership of the secretariat and that Rev. Dopah's group does not have the right to claim ownership, having left the church about 12 years ago.

In a press briefing at the church secretariat, officials of the GMC led by its Conference Superintendent, Rev. Baziel Yayuba Yoila, also disclosed that the property of the church had already been shared.

Yoila stated: "He (Dopah) has no power to raise funds for GMC to build their headquarters, because he has left UMCN for the past 12 years.

"He is not qualified to raise funds. We have the funds to build our headquarters.

"The headquarters belong to the Global Methodist Church. It was built by the former governor of Taraba state, Rev. Jolly Nyame. We have the legal documents to occupy the place. We are not begging for anything.

"The property he is occupying is illegal because we own the property. We allowed them to occupy the property in Zing, Lankaviri and within Jalingo for peace to reign.

"We have never asked for funds. If he is so rich, let him go and build a secretariat for himself. We are not bankrupt. We are growing.

"We are not sharing any property with Micah Dopah or even Ande. We own this property legally.

"When Micah left the UMCN with the property, we did not take him to court to bring the property back.

"They are occupying Lankaviri and Zing illegally and we left it to them. Because they broke away from the church for the past 12 years, they are not recognised.

"They don't pay dues to the general church. That is why the general church recognized us and we are occupying this property based on our recognition by the general church."

Another of the officials, Rev. Simon Jatutu, asked Dopah to "repent", adding that the issue of property has been settled already.

He said: "The Micah group need to repent. When Micah exited the church 12 years ago, they went and registered the group in the CAC.

"They cannot claim property of the United Methodist Church. They have no power to claim the property."

According to him, the GMC still belongs to the Methodist Church and only decided to exit the mother church because of the legalization of same-sex marriage.

He added: "Because of the illegality that happening in the UMCN, we decided to exit and we went through the legislation of the annual conference.

"The whole conferences within our leadership passed a resolution that once the church has adopted and agreed on homosexuality and all the rubbish, we were going to exit and we would do so with our property.

"That legislation was effectively carried out by voting. One, it has gone against the teachings of the Bible. Two, it has gone against the constitution of the country.

"The Global Methodist Church is not a breakaway faction. They transmuted into the Global Methodist Church by following due process.

"We only changed the nomenclature because the UMCN has adopted the practice of same-sex marriage."