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Photos Courtesy of Rev. Ande Ikimun Emmanuel from Facebook
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Photos Courtesy of Rev. Ande Ikimun Emmanuel from Facebook
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Photos Courtesy of Rev. Ande Ikimun Emmanuel from Facebook
A United Methodist Insight Exclusive
The high court in Nigeria's Taraba State has issued a restraining order against United Methodist Bishop John Wesley Yohanna and the episcopal area board of trustees to prevent them from transferring United Methodist property to the Global Methodist Church.
Six pastors in the Nigeria Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church, a hotbed of conflict, appealed to the high court for a restraining order after Bishop Yohanna took actions recently to try to transfer all United Methodist property to the Global Methodist Church. Justice Nuhu S. Adi issued the restraining order Feb. 1.
Signing the civil complaint against the bishop were church administrators throughout the Nigeria Episcopal Area: administrative assistants the Rev. Musa Lana, Southern Nigeria Conference; the Rev. Gloria Iliya Dogara, Central Nigeria Conference; the Rev. Absalom Jeremiah, Northern Nigeria Conference; the Rev. Alison Idi Karim, North East Nigeria; the Rev. Eli S. Yakku, a district superintendent; and the Rev. Ande Ikimun Emmanuel, secretary of the Southern Nigeria Conference.
Rev. Ande Ikimun Emmanuel
Courtesy Photo/Facebook
According to Rev. Emmanuel, the civil action was sparked by a series of recent actions by the bishop. Rev. Emmanuel has been one of the leaders of Nigerian United Methodist opposition to Bishop Yohanna's administration and is active with the United Methodist Africa Forum. In January, the UMAF held an informational conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for African delegates to the General Conference coming April 23-May 3 in Charlotte, N.C.
Rev. Emmanuel provided this information to Insight after he posted photos of the official court document on Facebook.
"1. Bishop John Wesley Yohanna has approached the Board of Trustees requesting that they swap the UMC Nigeria CAC certificate (government issued certificate) from UMC to GMC. He wants to create a situation that will look like the UMC in Nigeria has changed its name from UMC Nigeria to GMC Nigeria. This change, if successful, will transfer the UMC properties to GMC.
"2. He has been blackmailing the UMC as a church that has accepted homosexuality and has lied on National TV that those who attended the Dar es Salaam meeting in Tanzania endorsed homosexuality, he did this intentionally to endanger our lives and that of our families by instigating mob action on us or have the police arrest us and seize our travelling documents. This is possible in a country in Nigeria where homosexuality is culturally considered a crime.
"3. He brought in GMC resources in Nigeria, including pamphlets, flyers, and magazines, and is promoting GMC within the UMC facilities.
"4. Bishop Yohanna has converted his exclusive meeting with his GMC members in Nigeria to a business of an annual conference.
"5. He is abusing the authority of the bishop's office to remove pastors from big UM churches in Nigeria without consultation and replacing them with his GMC followers. This order was issued to stop all of the above."
Rev. Emmanuel posted a Facebook video explaining the conflict after publication of the high court's restraining order. To fully inform Nigerian United Methodists, he spoke in Hausa, Nigeria's primary language, with the result that English-speaking United Methodists couldn't understand the video.
Yohanna at Summit
United Methodist Bishop John Wesley Yohanna of Nigeria leads a Bible study session at the Africa Initiative Prayer Summit held May 17-18, 2022, in Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo by E. Julu Swen)
Conflict between Bishop Yohanna and United Methodists led by the six key leaders has been ongoing for several years. The opposing faction filed numerous complaints about Bishop Yohanna's administration, including allegations of misappropriation of church funds, with the West Africa College of Bishops. The College held a listening session on the complaints and referred the matter to the Council of Bishops, which reportedly is "holding a conversation" about the allegations against the Nigerian bishop, according to Rev. Emmanuel.
Bishop Yohanna has been an outspoken advocate of disaffiliation from the UMC and a supporter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association's Africa Initiative, which also has promoted disaffiliation. He was the only African bishop who refused to sign a pledge of unity with the UMC when African bishops convened in 2023.
United Methodist Insight emailed the secretary of the Nigeria Episcopal Area requesting the bishop's comment on the court order. No response was received by Insight's deadline, which has been typical of past attempts to communicate with Bishop Yohanna. Frequently such inquiries have been answered by his assistant, Rev. Baziel Yoila Yayuba, but those responses often do not address the facts of allegations against the bishop, instead casting aspersions on the truthfulness and character of the complainants.
CORRECTED: Rev. Baziel Yoila Yayuba's name was misspelled in a previous version. We apologize for the error.
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011 to serve as a media channel amplifying news and views of marginalized and under-served United Methodists.