Priests and parishioners of St Paul’s Catholic Church, Ebute-Meta, Yaba Lagos State recently launched a peaceful protest in the Lagos Mainland Local Government Area.
The protest, which started from the church compound in Ebute-Meta, was led by the parish priest, the Most Reverend Father. Michael Okonkwo.
Speaking during the protest march to the church property behind the church, which is believed to have been taken over by the government without due process, Reverend Father Okonkwo explained that the property originally belonged to the church and that it was the location of the Catholic nursery for girls. and primary school, before the state government took over the management of it many years ago, but then abandoned it due to mismanagement.
He said that after many years of abandonment of the school, the church made efforts to take back the property in order to rebuild
but did not have the opportunity to do so.
Okonkwo, who is also the dean of the Yaba dean of the church, said that during the process of recovering the property, unknown persons stormed the place, demolished the structures and started a new foundation without contact, discussing with the church what they were. planned to do with the.property. “We were surprised to see some people demolishing our property and erecting another one without even writing, calling or visiting us to discuss their plans. When we approached them, they claimed to work for the government. Subsequently, we contacted the local government of Lagos Mainland for clarification and they told us that the Lagos State Universal Education Board (LASUBEB) wanted to build another school there. This did not sit well with us because courtesy demands that before the government could embark on such a project, we as the original owners of the property should be aware. They should let us know what kind of school they plan to build there, and if it’s for the public good, but there was no such thing. They ignored us, not caring about the implication.
“Seeing this, the parishioners decided to draw the attention of the government to such an act and to express their disappointment and dissatisfaction through a peaceful demonstration.
He informed that the property in question belongs to the church and that they built a school called Catholic Girls Nursery and Primary School before Lagos State took over the management of it, and when they could not well manage it, they abandoned it for so many years. . “When the state government abandoned the school and it was dilapidated, we requested that they return our land to us so that we could rebuild the school, but this was not possible due to the documentation. Then, we are in the process of recovering the land before suddenly seeing strangers come to install a structure there, without our knowledge.
The parish priest insisted that the church no longer wanted its schools acquired by the government because those left in its care were not well managed. “While we commend the government for their efforts, we say they should leave the management of our schools to us. Have we not seen the dilapidated state of the Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul de Costain schools, which they
taken from us are? Also, after seeing how the government is running other schools it has taken from their owners, is there any hope for improvement? We do not think so. It is not a question of erecting good and big structures, but of good management.
The President of the Lay Parish, Mr. Anthony Osamade and a member of the Catholic Men’s Organization, Mr. Onipede Adebayo expressed his disgust at the undue encroachment on land belonging to the church, pointing out that although the church would not want to get involved in an action capable of causing a crisis, but cannot sit back and watch people take their possessions with force.
They said the failure of those involved in the construction of the building to disclose their identities demonstrates foul play. “When the workers stormed the place about three weeks ago, we asked them what their mission was and they said they were building a school. But the most unfortunate thing is that they refused to tell us who sent them, which is what let us know that they were there for something.
Parishioners called on the Lagos State government to intervene on the matter to avoid a breach of law and order.
Also a former parish pastoral council secretary, Mr Solomon Lajubutu disapproved of the ugly development and questioned why people should decide to encroach on the church property which has stood for many years. “I started worshiping the church since 1959 and everyone knows the church owns the property. He is not in the running. The only thing is that the government took over the school from the church, after running it for a while they abandoned it, and when we asked for the land to be returned to us to run it as it was must, they did not answer us. And now we hear that the Board of Education is the one laying the foundation, why didn’t they talk to the church? How are we sure they are telling us the truth, since there is no documentation to that effect?
He called on the Lagos State government to follow due process in the interests of peace and the public interest. “If the government is responsible for the project, they know what they would have done before encroaching on church property. All we’re saying now as a church is they leave our property alone. We are able to manage it as we want.
