Anglican priest resigns, accuses church of taking his wife

An Anglican cleric, Rev Canon LumenCristi Eboh, has resigned from his office as a priest of the Anglican Communion.

The priest who disclosed his resignation at a press conference in Awka, the Anambra State capital on Monday alleged that some forces in the church had caused his wife to leave him, and quartered her at an undisclosed place.

He accused his diocesan bishop (name withheld) of witch-hunt and land grabbing, and an attempt to arm-twist him into making him a member of the board of a ministry he founded privately.

Eboh who owns a charismatic congregation and prayer ministry known as God in Action Adoration Ministry cited harassment, instigation and conspiracy by the diocesan authorities of the Anglican Diocese as reasons for his resignation.

He said: “As I speak, my wife is living differently in an apartment paid for by someone who knows that she is someone’s wife.

“I am only a priest permitted by my communion to enter the sacred institution of marriage. As a married man, I had very private moments with my wife and we shared endearing words just like every young couple. With the crash of my marriage, I have sought to reorder my life, but those fighting me have even sent young women here in an attempt to use prospects of marriage to malign my character and reputation.”

Eboh noted that his involvement in charismatic activities was at the centre of his conflict with the Bishop, who he accused of high handedness, intimidation and conspiratorial manipulations, leading to his decision to resign.

The priest who is a radio and televangelist also accused the bishop of insisting that the registered trustees of the adoration ministry be altered to include the bishop and his wife, a condition he resisted on the basis that God did not reveal the bishop to him as a vessel in the ministry.

He alleged that his refusal to include the Bishop as trustee as demanded and to hand over landed property of the adoration ministry to him set him on a collision course with the bishop.