Every
Sunday, two worship services are held at Victory Pentecostal Ministries
International Incorporated in Enugu. While one holds in the morning, the other
takes place in the afternoon.
The church is divided into two factions.
Members who belong to the camp of Pastor Ralph Okebu (47) turn up in the
morning while those who hold allegiance to his wife, Prophetess (Mrs) Caroline
Okebu (51) attend in the afternoon.
Before the
worship arrangement was arrived at, congregants on both sides had fought
physically over the use of the church auditorium located at Km 1 Enugu –
Onitsha Expressway. According to a source, it took the intervention of the
police to restore some form of order in the church, adding that policemen were
stationed in the premises for two Sundays to avoid bloodshed. Read Full season after the cut
“The leaders
of the church and some of the members were regular customers at various police
stations in Enugu, as they made allegations and counter allegations against one
another. In fact, the pastor and his wife traded punches and ended up at the police
station,” the source stressed.
The reporter
attended a Friday evening service held in the Church auditorium by the
Prophetess Caroline faction on April 11, 2014. The Ralph Okebu faction said to
be in the minority kept away although some movements were noticed in and around
his office.
But how did
the church come to this ugly pass? Inside sources linked the crises rocking the
church to allegations of inappropriate relationships, greed, money mongering,
deceit and quest to convert church auditorium into a warehouse.
Crisis
Tracing the
genesis of the crises, a member of the Church, Chuks Okonkwo, a lawyer, who
described himself as the Church administrator, said: “A problem arose in the
Church about last year. There could have been problem brewing but it came to
the fore about January 2013 and it followed a prophecy that was released by the
prophetess in the ministry, Prophetess Caroline Okebu. Part of these prophecies
touched on the general wellbeing of the Church while a part of it touched on
certain members of the Church, including the head pastor, Pastor Ralph Okebu.
But the personal message that touched on Pastor Ralph Okebu could be seen to be
what led to the factionalisation of the Church because in his own thinking,
such a message shouldn’t have been revealed on the pulpit and the message had
to deal with his amorous relationship with some female members of the church.
And it was a warning.
Basically, the ministry is a prophetic
ministry and when there are prophetic revelations, they are taken very
seriously. But where we were concerned was that part of that instruction was
that we should, for 21 Sundays, have our services on the Mount of Challenge.
Mount of Challenge is a place we normally go to make special prayers.
There are
usually people who have challenges in business, marriage and whatever. We go to
the Mount of Challenge. We call it Mount of Challenge because that is where we
challenge our challengers. It is a spiritual praying ground, which has been
there as far back as 1979. After that revelation by the prophetess of the
ministry, the whole church attended worship service on a Sunday there under the
leadership of Pastor Ralph Okebu.
But after
the first Sunday, he reneged. The rest of us went to church the next Sunday
thinking that after the normal Sunday school, we would retire to the mountain
to have the service proper but that was not to be. So, we were surprised and
his reason was that it was not going to be possible, especially considering
that the rains would come, for people to go and worship in the open air or in
the bush, according to him.
But by the
third Sunday, a lot of people had said that the ministry has a foundation and
whatever the Lord says is what the people are going to do. So, on the third
Sunday about 80 percent of the members relocated to the mountain for Sunday
services. I want you to note that every other weekly activity of the church
still held in the church and as scheduled. These include the Monday faith
clinic which is usually presided over by the prophetess. The faith clinic was
actually designed to cater for those looking for the fruit of the womb or for
some form of business development.
It is a
ministry she started a very long time ago. The mid-week service still held at
the church premises. Counselling on Thursdays done by Prophetess Caroline still
held at the church premises and the Friday prophetic meetings in the evenings
under the same woman was still being held in the church. The only thing was
that Sunday services should be held on the mountain for 21 Sundays. And three
reasons were given for that charge from the Holy Spirit.
One was that
God said that we should go and cry to Him so that the calamity that is about
befalling this nation would be averted. The second is that He wants us to keep
off the church for Him to rearrange and sanitize the it by Himself so that the
evil things that are seen in other churches will not be noticeable in Victory
Pentecostal Ministries. The third is that we should pray against sudden deaths
and such other calamities.
“So, every
right thinking person, that’s what I choose to call them, and those who know
the foundation of the ministry, chose to go and Pastor Ralph refused to join.
And a few others who preferred the comfort of worshipping in the church
auditorium with clean chairs and air-condition and all that remained with him.
It wasn’t quite two months after this happened
that Pastor Ralph started feeling the impact of the factionalisation because
there was going to be a drop in income because you will not expect that the
offerings and other finances accruing from the mountain will be brought to him.
It wasn’t going to be. So, one day, Prophetess Caroline was summoned by the
State Security Service (SSS) accused of engineering something that would likely
cause the breach of the peace and I happened to be among the team that went to
SSS.
And after
their investigation, they found that it was not entirely the way it was
presented. We continued on the mountain. The problem assumed a different
dimension in July 2013 when we came back from the Mountain; we called it
triumphant entry back home because the instruction was ‘go and pray and after
this come back.’ So, we were rejoicing, we felt and knew God had heard us and
we were coming back home.
But we were
prevented from entering the church auditorium. Before then, we had always known
that the Ralph Okebu group would normally dismiss at about 11.00am on Sundays.
But we came in at about 12noon but they refused to vacate the hall or even
allow us access. And avoiding bloodshed, we stayed outside. At the end of all
this, it was going to be a problem and a member of the church said that with
the kind of grace we were coming with, we wouldn’t engage in anything that will pollute what we
were carrying.
She offered
us a part of her office at Ogui Road for our Sunday services pending when the
issue of usurping the place on Sundays will be resolved. At this time, the
police came in and the Enugu State Commissioner of Police personally took over
the matter and was mediating. So, as this lasted, the police at some point,
about three months ago, decided with the leadership of both factions that the
Ralph Okebu led group should be having morning service to dismiss at 12noon
while the Prophetess Caroline led group should have their own service thereafter.
Not minding
the inconvenience it might cause because people are used to going to church in
the morning, in the interest of peace and while believing that God will
intervene and a permanent solution will come, this was accepted and services
have been operating that way. But unfortunately, Ralph Okebu feels that the
church is his personal business and is determined to chase anyone that does not
agree with him out.
So, the
first thing he did was to go to his village in Odekpe in Anambra State and brought
in his siblings to live in his office attached to the church auditorium. What
this people now do is that whenever the other faction is having a programme,
they would open the door in the attached building which opens into the
auditorium, playing music at loud volume, banging doors and all that just to
distract worshippers or cause a fight. But this has been contained by constant
pleading by the leadership of that group so that there won’t be a fight.
Dissatisfied
that he is not getting what he expected, because he always describes the church
as his, he now sued Prophetess Caroline Okebu and Deacon Uchenna Ani. By the
way, the incorporated trustees of the church are four persons namely; Raphael
Okebu, Prophetess Caroline Okebu (who is Raphael’s wife), Deacon Uchenna Ani
and Deacon Thomas Okebu, though he (Thomas) has not been in the ministry for
about five years.”
Okonkwo
further said: “The action in court was brought in the name of the incorporated
trustees against Prophetess Caroline Okebu and Deacon Uchenna Ani who are also
trustees. Our position is that the suit is incompetent.
We took a
preliminary objection to the competence of the suit because we feel the
incorporated trustees are four and if you must bring an action in the name of
the incorporated trustees, it must be with the common seal of the incorporated
trustees. If not, it should be brought as a minority action. So, it is like
saying that you are suing yourself; that is one.
Second, we
looked at the process they filed, our argument is that the Federal High Court
that has jurisdiction on matters that relate to Companies and Allied Matters
Act would assume jurisdiction if the matter before her is related to such
issues covered therein. But we are saying that the subject matter, the interest
of the initiator of this suit is on land or property. So, we are asking the
court to consider whether that subject matter falls within the court’s
jurisdiction. That is where we are today in the court.
They brought a motion on notice, seeking
interlocutory injunction saying that Prophetess Caroline Okebu and Uchenna Ani
have ceased to be members of the ministry and should not have access to the
property of the ministry and we are saying no. The constitution and the bye
laws of Victory Pentecostal Ministries, which is an association, and the
Companies and Allied Matters Act Part C under which the trustees were
incorporated is clear on how to appoint and remove trustees. In the absence of
any evidence of resignation, they still remain members and if you want them removed,
it should be a different kettle of fish. They should follow what the law
prescribes.
So, the matter is before the court. We’ve been
there twice before Justice M. Shuaibu who advised that we explore out of court
settlement but he gave an adjournment for May 21 but the learned honourable
justice was elevated to the Court of Appeal. But the matter has been
transferred on the application of the counsel for the plaintiff to Court Two.
So, for the purpose of not falling foul of the law, I’m only giving you the
historical facts of this matter. We believe justice will come out of the
court.”
Asked how
they worship now, Barr Okonkwo said: “In fact, the Ralph Okebu led group has
stretched their service; atimes they leave at about 12.45pm. As they leave, we
get in, worship and exit at about 4.30pm; that’s how we’ve been worshipping in
the last three months.”
Disclosing
that as a result of the crises, Pastor Ralph Okebu and Prophetess Caroline
Okebu are no longer living together, Okonkwo said: “As a matter of fact, if I
must go down memory lane, the ministry was started by Prophetess Caroline Okebu
in her father’s house in Iva Valley, Enugu as a home fellowship more or less.
She was born a Catholic but she just had the
gift and people went for prayers. As the number increased, it was her brother,
Deacon Uchenna Ani that assisted them get a bigger place of worship, using the
Coal Corporation hall in the same Iva Valley. At this time, Ralph hadn’t come
to join the ministry. It was at a crusade ground that he met her and said that
he had heard about her.
After
sometime, they got married and the ministry later moved to the Red Cross near
Ogbete before moving to its present location on Kilometre 1 along Enugu-Onitsha
Expressway. We are not interested in the family squabbles but it will be
difficult to extricate the squabbles from the ministry because the people
involved have been part and parcel of the ministry.
At the onset of the factionalisation, we began
to hear certain things we didn’t know before. Primarily, Ralph Okebu said in
the petition he wrote to the Commissioner of Police that he felt his marriage
to the prophetess was flawed because the prophetess hid certain facts from him
from the onset; that some of these facts were that she was married before. And
the prophetess found this laughable because she had told him that she had been
into a marriage but it didn’t work out and that she wouldn’t be in any marriage
that would affect God’s calling upon her life. She told him that she had
children and the children from the onset of the marriage had been with them.
She had four children from her previous marriage.
The account
from Prophetess Caroline is that Ralph feels that he has arrived, having run
the ministry solely more or less financially for 13 years and found love in
another woman, a widow who came to the church and was being presented to
everyone then as his sister. He calls her Nwannem Nwanyi (my sister). And all
of a sudden, they began to go on frolic together; they travel within and
outside the country together.
Maybe he found more comfort in the arms of the
widow. He started by not sleeping in the house for some days until he
practically moved out of the house. It was at the beginning of the crises and
for the security of the prophetess that her group found an accommodation for
her outside the church accommodation where they were staying. Ralph brought his
mother and siblings, at least, to express his act of ownership of the property.
That was one
of the reasons the faction led by Carol had to find her accommodation. Ralph’s mother and siblings chased her out of
the kitchen and she had to be cooking in her room which we considered as very
dangerous. By the grace of God, the church found her a befitting accommodation
outside the church premises. The marriage between Ralph and Carol produced two
daughters aged about 18 and 16 years respectively. We understand their father
rented an apartment where he stays with them but shuttles between the apartment
and the apartment of his new found love.”
I registered
the Church alone – Deacon Ani
Deacon Ani
corroborated Okonkwo’s submission on the crises rocking the church. He said:
“Honestly, the situation became so explosive that there was physical scuffle.
The police were invited and we’ve been moving from one police station to the
other.”
Offering
insights into the history of the church, Ani, who informed Sunday Sun that “I
registered the ministry exclusively with my fund,” added: “He (Ralph) came
later after my sister had started the ministry and decided to marry her. We
felt it was abnormal for a woman to be above the husband in a ministry, so we
just gave him that tag of being the leader, and the prophetess of the ministry
is my sister. She is the only prophetess and there is no other prophetess or
prophet in the church,” he volunteered.
“For six
years, he wore clothes that I discarded. When they started having children, he
used to carry them on the shoulder walking about. The suffering was too much,
so I gave them a Volkswagen Beetle car. After two years, the car was in bad
shape and I gave them a Santana car.
“One Njeze
and I were the chief financiers of this ministry and it is on record he is
operating eight bank accounts and the constitution of the ministry said that
there must be a procedure of appointing secretaries and treasurers but all the
eight accounts he is operating are in his name. He has been doing this for the
past 20 years of this ministry. He has been running the church like his
personal estate.”
Pastor Ralph
pestered me for marriage-Prophetess Caroline
Going down
memory lane, Prophetess Caroline, in a chat, affirmed that she started the
ministry in her father’s house. She said that she met Ralph at a Bible School,
explaining that he used to visit her clandestinely and whenever her brother,
Uchenna Ani returned home, he would jump out through the window.
Reacting to
Ralph’s claim that she deceived him into marrying her, Prophetess Carol said
that was a lie from the pit of hell. According to her, Ralph pestered her
endlessly and even engaged certain persons to persuade her before she accepted
to become his wife. She claimed that he was aware of the fact that she had four
children from her former husband, insisting that the relationship was duly
terminated before Ralph came on board.
“Don’t mind
him. The first husband I married was way back; he didn’t pay dowry on my head
and he is married as we learnt. We went to the welfare and the welfare officer
judged the matter and said it was his fault because he didn’t pay any bride
price on my head and he said that he would go back to the Idodo woman he had
married and I didn’t know. He didn’t pay
my bride price; all he did was the introductory drink he brought.
I had gone
to many churches and I was told that if I do not leave the man’s house I cannot
marry and that I should not marry someone who had married before. The man was
also a womaniser, I was running from temptation and I ran into the worst. There
was no time I deceived him. He used to beg me and whenever he was in our house
and he heard the sound of my brother’s car, he would jump out through the
window. Ralph used to wear one green slippers.
Then he
started asking me to marry him but I told him that I was not interested in
marriage, all I wanted was to concentrate on the assignment given to me. He
started going to my people, disturbing them and begging them to prevail on me
to marry him. I didn’t even know his village and I didn’t know anybody to ask
any question about his village.
He even begged my children to allow him to
marry their mother and they usually told him that the decision is their
mother’s. Only one of them, John, does not get close to him and there was a day
he pursued the boy into the bush and people were alarmed. The boy had dada
(dreadlocks), he is also a messenger and I think he had seen or known the sort
of person Ralph is. Ralph used to beg me for money and I would give him.
My brother,
Uchenna was feeding us and buying clothes for us. He also bought Beetle and
Santana cars for us. Whatever we asked of Uchenna, he provided for us even if
we didn’t ask, he would provide. It was Uchenna who registered the church; I
didn’t know and Ralph didn’t know until he brought the documents from Abuja for
us to sign. In fact, when he brought the documents, Ralph was not around and we
waited for him since he had become one of us. Uchenna bought the instruments
with which we started.
“Ralph was
always in my father’s house, begging me to marry him. His father and mother
came and they said that they liked us. They saw my children and his father who
is still alive asked if the children would stay with them and my mother told
him that the children like to stay anywhere they are well taken care of. We got
married in 1997. At the time, he said he didn’t bother if I had children for
him or not afterall his mother had 11 children. But by God’s grace, we had two
children,” she explained.
Mum from
pastor
At 10.46am
on April 11, 2014, Sunday Sun called Pastor Okebu on his mobile phone to fix an
interview appointment with him, so that he can state his own side of the story.
But he said he was in the village because his children were on holiday, promising
to call the reporter when he gets back to Enugu the following day.
Having
waited for his call till 5.30pm the following day to no avail, the reporter
called his number again without response. At 5.32pm, the reporter sent him an
SMS but he did not reply. The SMS reads: “Good evening sir. Are you back? I’m
still waiting for your call.” He is yet to call.
Battle in
the temple of justice
In the suit
instituted by the Pastor Okebu (on behalf of the incorporated trustees) against
Prophetess Caroline Okebu and Deacon Ani at a Federal High Court in Enugu vide
Suit No: FHC/EN/CS/9/2014, he is seeking “an order of interlocutory injunction
restraining the defendants/respondents by themselves, principal, agents,
servants, privies or any person or persons howsoever called or designated from
interfering with, trespassing on or entering into the plaintiff’s church
building and premises situate at Km 1, Enugu/Onitsha Expressway, GRA, Enugu
pending the hearing of the substantive suit.”
In an
affidavit in support of motion on notice dated February 10, 2014, Pastor Okebu
said that “prior to my founding of the plaintiff/applicant (Victory Pentecostal
International Ministries Int. Inc.), I was a pastor with New Life Winners
Church until I got a revelation from God to open up and or establish the
plaintiff/applicant for the purpose of winning or converting souls to God.”
He also
averred: “That in the course of my pastoral mission at Obeleagu Umunna in
Ezeagu Local Government Area, Enugu State under the New Life Winners Church
that I met the 1st defendant/respondent who approached me and informed me of a
message she claimed to have received from God that I am her husband.
“That as a
man of God, I did not doubt the message and I quickly got married to the 1st
defendant/respondent whom I then believed was a true servant and/or a minister
of God.
“That during
the registration of my new found church (the plaintiff/applicant) I included
the defendants as members of the Board of Trustees of the Church.
“That I
broke up with the 1st defendant/respondent as my wife following my discovery of
some concealed facts about the status of the 1st defendant/respondent and her
children including the fact that she is still legally married to another man
who up and until date is still alive.
“That sequel
to my above discovery, I took certain domestic decisions which did not go down
well with the 1st defendant/respondent hence her decision to destabilize the
plaintiff/applicant.
“That barely
two to three months after she took some worshippers to Milken Hill to worship
every Sunday, the defendants/respondents and their cohorts came to Km. 1,
Enugu/Onitsha Expressway GRA Enugu being the place of worship of the
plaintiff/applicant and disrupted severally the Sunday and weekly activities of
the members of the Church.
“That the
defendants/respondents told members of the plaintiff/applicant in the church
that they should disperse, that the plaintiff/applicant is no longer in
existence, that they have formed a new Victory Pentecostal Ministries and that
they will make sure that the plaintiff/applicant is disbanded.
“I am aware
that the defendants/respondents went as far as telling the
plaintiff/applicant’s members present in the congregational service that I am a
fake pastor, an adulterer, a thief and so many other unprintable words all
aimed at destabilizing the applicant/plaintiff.
“That when
the defendants/respondents could not succeed in their planned antics, they
invaded the church premises on 13th day of May, 2013 at about 10.20pm, attacked
me and beat me up saying that I should leave Enugu State and go to my hometown
Anambra State. It took the intervention of God Almighty for me to escape from
being killed on that date.”
He further
claimed that though he survived being killed, his car parked in front of the
church was destroyed. He added that the defendants/respondents have ceased to
be members of the plaintiff/applicant having formed a new church by name
Victory Pentecostal Ministries Int’l Inc. (Hill Top).
But in a
counter affidavit in opposition to the motion for interlocutory injunction
dated and filed on February 10, 2014, Deacon Uchenna Ani stated that:
“The suit
has not been brought by the Incorporated Trustees and having been initiated by
one out of four trustees, is tantamount to minority action for which leave of
court must be sought before the said suit is instituted.
“Ralph Okebu
who initiated the suit has not been given any leave by the Incorporated
Trustees or leave of court to sue, so he lacks locus standi to bring the suit
in the name of the Incorporated Trustees.”
He also
raised other objections ranging from non compliance with the Rules of Court,
Companies and Allied Matters Act and the Administrative Bye laws of Victory
Pentecostal Ministries Inc to the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to
entertain the subject matter.
He added
“that Ralph Okebu who initiated the suit and who also brought this application
has since derailed from the cause of the plaintiff having transformed into a
businessman. He needs us to be chased from the church auditorium in order to
convert same to a warehouse for his business needs. I attach and mark as
‘Exhibit RO 1’ a copy of his e-mail visa to Dubai wherein information from his
international passport noted him as a businessman and not a clergyman.”
Consequently,
Ralph Okebu filed a counter affidavit in opposition to the defendant’s motion
on notice dated February 11, 2014.
Culled:
Thesun
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