Communal crisis looms in Ondo over closure of church

Another communal crisis is looming in Ayetoro community in the Ilaje coastal area of Ondo state, over the continued closure of the only Church in the community by the Ondo state government and the Nigeria Police Force, Ondo state command.

The residents of the community on Sunday took to the streets of Ayetoro protesting the prolonged closure of the only worship center in the land, appealing to the state government to rescue them from the hands of the few elites in the community threatening the peace of the area.

The protesters who invaded the streets of Ayetoro as early as 7am numbering about ten thousand and armed with placards of different inscriptions, such as, “Open our place of worship, freedom of worship is our right here, all we are saying, we need a place of worship; federal judge cannot judge us, only God can,” the placards read among others.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the Baba Ijo of the only church in the community, the Holy Apostles Church, Lawrence Lemamu, lamented that the crisis emanated from the leadership crisis in 2015 after the demise of their traditional head.

According to him, the leadership of the community usually emerge from the Church through Holy Spirit saying the head of the community is also the head of the church; and governed mainly by religious dictates since the creation of the community some 70 years ago.

Lemamu said some few elites in the town organised themselves into a cabal and invaded the community at night and stole the paraphernalia of office of the king and forcibly installed Mr. Micah Ajijo as the community head, before the church could pronounce the new leader for the town, saying “this is against the tradition and custom of this land”

Lemamu said attempt to resist the Ajijo as the traditional head led to the closure of the church with the cabal mobilising police to the area and lamented that the state government and the police authority were depriving them of their fundamental human right to worship in the land of their fathers.

Lemamu said “serving God in worship is key and central to the establishment of this community by our forefathers. Ayetoro is all about worshipping God.”

He lamented that they despite the intimidation, they have been worshipping at an open ground since January 2015, only for Ajijo to institute a suit against the community to stop them from worshipping at the open ground again.

“We started worshipping at the town hall after the closure of the church but they invaded our land with gun boat and security personnel to drive us out of the City Hall and prevent us from holding service

“Now they are using the judiciary to intimidate us again by issuing an injunction, which we knew nothing about its proceedings, to stop us from using the Broad Street for our Sunday services and to worship our God.

“They stopped us from the church, they stopped us again from the city hall and now the Broad street, giving flimsy excuse that we are blocking a highway where there is no vehicle or motorcycle” he said.

He also alleged the immediate past government in the state of taking sides in the crisis while Ajijo prevailed on the state government to lock up the church anniversary ground, city hall and the glass house that belongs to the elderly people of the community.

The community also accused the police and Ondo State Ministry of Justice of acting the instructions of Ajijo to victimize and intimidate the people to accept his illegal and unconventional ascendancy to the throne.

They however appealed to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to come to their aids before the cabal push them to the wall saying this can disrupt the peace of the land.

The protesters however took their protest to the home of the embattled king where the service was held while Lemamu said “the spirit is one, and we shall from today continue to worship in the church in Ajijo’s house. From the days of our fathers, there has been only one church in Ayetoro; and we will not stop worshipping God in his house until they open our church for us to serve our God.”

Meanwhile, the embattled community head, Ajijo, justified the closure of the church saying government’s decision to deploy security operatives to the community was to avert religious crisis in order not to mar the existing peace of the land.

Also, the former Baba Ijo of the church, Bishop Iwatan Eretan, said that the church was placed under lock because the problem in the community aggravated from the church.

He added that it is part of the measure employed to calm the aggrieved parties before government wades in to settle the crisis.

Eretan said that the closure was recommended as a temporary solution to the problem to avert similar crisis which first erupted in 1986, when a life was lost in the civil strife,

According to him, “Religious crisis is very dangerous. If we are not careful many lives may be lost. The same mechanism used then we have applied.”

However, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Femi Joseph, said the people are entitled to freedom of worship but said the command has warned them against breach of peace and order of the land.

He disclosed that his men have been stationed within the town to maintain law and order and however warned the people against taking law into their hands, with a pledge that the issue will soon be resolved amicably

A Press Officer in the ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs, Meshack Olaoluwa, said the officials of the ministry had organised a meeting of the two sides with the hope of finding a lasting solution to the crisis.