AWKA, NIGERIA – SEPTEMBER 18, 2025 – A secretive group within the Anglican Diocese of Awka, calling itself the “Nine Crusaders,” has sent a second, highly detailed letter to the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, leveling grave allegations of financial malfeasance, forgery, and the misuse of church funds for political ambition against the Archbishop of the Diocese, The Most Reverend Alexander Chibuzor Ibezim.
The letter, dated September 15, 2025, and obtained by journalists, is addressed to The Most Reverend Henry Ndukuba. It follows an initial report sent last month and claims to be written by five priests and four laypersons with insider knowledge of the diocese’s operations.
The group states its mission is stark: “To save the Church, we must act!” They allege a systemic pattern of corruption that threatens the very foundation of the diocese.
A Catalogue of Allegations
The letter outlines a series of specific and damaging claims:
1. Obstructing EFCC Investigations: The Crusaders claim Archbishop Ibezim is actively working to shield himself from an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), fearing an audit would reveal “shocking financial misdeeds.” They allege he obtained an interim court order from a vacation judge in Awka to restrain the anti-graft agency.
2. “Fire Sale” of Church Heritage: The most detailed allegation involves the illegal sale of vast tracts of church land. The group claims nearly 60% of all land disposed of during Ibezim’s tenure was sold in a concentrated spree between 2020-2021 without approval from the Diocesan Board or Synod. The letter lists specific transactions, including:
* ₦70 million to Enenike Obi
* ₦110 million to Uju Okafor
* Multiple sales totaling millions to others, primarily for plots in Ngozika Estate, Awka.
Most shockingly, they allege the conveyance documents used the forged signature of Hon. Justice O. J. Okeke, a retired Federal High Court Judge and diocese trustee.
3. Funding Political Ambition with Church Funds: The Crusaders assert that the proceeds from these sales were not used for church work but to fund politics. They make the bombshell claim that ₦350 million was delivered to APGA Chairman Chief Victor Oye to secure the Deputy Governorship ticket in Anambra State for the Archbishop’s brother, Dr. Onyekachi Ibezim, in 2021.
4. Bribes and Lobbying: When summoned by a Primate-led committee, Ibezim is accused of flying 27 loyalists to Abuja, lodging and feeding them for days, and distributing cash-filled envelopes—all funded from diocesan accounts—to lobby other bishops for support.
5. Unpaid Clergy and Staff: While allegedly spending lavishly on politics and lobbying, the Archbishop is accused of failing to pay August salaries to clergy and diocesan staff, reducing them to “begging for handouts from parishioners.”
A “Virus” of Corruption
The group’s language is fierce and uncompromising. They label Archbishop Ibezim a “virus” corrupting the diocese and cite a past rebuke from the late Archbishop Maxwell Anikwenwa, who called him a “lying Bishop.”
In a scathing “Catalogue of Shame,” they list his “achievements,” alleging he is the highest-selling, most petitioned bishop in the region, and has built one of the “most extravagant” country homes in Anambra State despite being a church leader.
Appeal to Church Leadership
The Nine Crusaders end with a desperate plea to Primate Ndukuba, warning that the Church is “on the brink” and that the nation is watching how the Communion will handle the crisis. They vow to continue speaking out, declaring, “We see everything. We hear everything.”
Official Response Awaited
As of press time, there has been no public response from Archbishop Ibezim, the Diocese of Awka, or the office of the Primate of the Church of Nigeria. The EFCC has also not commented on the alleged investigations or restraining order mentioned in the letter.
The allegations, if proven true, represent one of the most serious scandals to hit the Nigerian Anglican Communion in recent history.
The petition is reproduced in full below
Subject: Monthly Update
Diocese
A Church in Peril: Corruption and Cover-Ups in the Diocese of Awka
We, the Nine Crusaders – five priests and four laypersons who know the Diocese of Awka from within, write again with burning urgency. This is our monthly update, a sequel to our earlier letter of 15th August 2025. In that letter we laid bare the web of corruption woven by Archbishop Alexander Chibuzor Ibezim. Now, with heavier hearts, we bring you even graver revelations.
We do not write from rumor. We write from what we have seen, what we have heard, and what we can prove. To remain silent is to watch the Cross of Christ trampled underfoot. To save the Church, we must act!
1. A Desperate Cover-Up of EFCC Investigations
Archbishop Ibezim has waged a fierce battle to shield himself from the light of the EFCC. He knows that once their torch touches Awka Diocese’s finances, the truth will explode. For years, he has hidden shocking financial misdeeds, reckless spending, and unauthorized land sales. He fears exposure and so he fights to gag the very body mandated to cleanse corruption.
2. A Fire Sale of the Church’s Heritage
Between 2020 and 2021, the Archbishop carried out what can only be described as a looting spree of Church lands. Nearly 60% of all the lands he disposed in Awka Diocese happened in that brief window. These were not approved by the Diocesan Board or Synod. They were covert, illegal, and fraudulent.
Among the documented transactions are: #70 million to Enenike Obi, #35 million to Ben Okoye, #110 million to Uju Okafor, #55 million to Tony Muobike,
#55 million to Anayo Okpalaeke, #36 million to Chief Innocent and lots of such other unlawful sales traced back to plots in Ngozika Estate, Awka. In the conveyance papers, the forged signature of Hon. Justice O. J. Okeke, a respected retired Federal High Court Judge and trustee of the Diocese, was used. Forgery of sacred trust, to strip the Church of her inheritance!
3. Selling the Church to Buy Politics
The proceeds of this plunder did not build the Church. Some were used to fund politics. In 2020, Chief Sir Uzuegbunam “Uzu” Okagbue, paraded and supported by the then First Lady, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano, stood as the most formidable candidate for Deputy Governor. But Archbishop Ibezim had other plans.
In 2021, Archbishop Ibezim struck a sordid bargain: #350 million of Church funds obtained from illegal land sales, was delivered to APGA Chairman Chief Victor Oye, to secure the Deputy Governorship Candidate ticket for his own brother, Dr. Onyekachi Ibezim. With that exchange, the altar of God was traded for political ambition.
Other huge sums from diocesan coffers were poured into the pockets of politicians to cement this ambition. This is the great terror that haunts Archbishop Ibezim, that the EFCC will one day uncover the trail of blood money from the Church of God to the marketplace of politics.
4. Courts as Tools of Escape
To shield himself, the Archbishop ran to Justice F. I. Aniukwu, a vacation judge in Awka, and procured an interim order to restrain the EFCC from performing its lawful duties. Whose funds were squandered to buy this relief? A petition now lies before the NJC against the Judge of this very order. If Archbishop Ibezim is innocent, why not open the books to EFCC and allow the truth to speak? Why drag the Church into expensive legal battles to preserve one man’s filthy secrets?
5. Bribes Masquerading as Lobbying
When summoned to face the fact-finding committee, set up by The Primate, Archbishop Ibezim did not come alone. He air-lifted 27 loyalists from Awka to Abuja, lodged them for 2 to 4 days in Abuja hotels, fed them, and stuffed them with envelopes with cash, all from diocesan accounts, without approval. He spent time lobbying Archbishops and Bishops to build support to escape his crimes. To some, he would offer financial gratification inn exchange for conscience. His strategy is simple: buy sympathy, silence opposition, and bribe away punishment, while Awka Diocese bleeds dry.
6. Salaries Withheld, Staff in Misery
While he lavishes diocesan funds on politics, judges, and lobbyists, the clergy and staff of Awka Diocese remain unpaid for August. Clergy cannot pay school fees for their children and a large number of them, beg for handouts from parishioners. The very hands that serve God in Awka are reduced to begging, while the Archbishop parades wealth.
7. The Virus Called Ibezim
What more proof does the Church need? Fraud, forgery, theft of lands, squandering of public trust, bribery, and cover-ups. Archbishop Maxwell Anikwenwa, of blessed memory, had these words to say to Archbishop Ibezim: “There is a lying Bishop in Awka Diocese.”
We now see clearly, Archbishop Ibezim is not merely a liar. He is a virus: corrupting clergy, infecting diocesan life, spreading rot like a plague. His continued presence in the episcopacy endangers the very soul of the Church.
8. Catalogue of Shame – Achievements in Putrefaction
We must, in dark irony, applaud Archbishop Ibezim for setting new records: (a) He has sold more lands than any bishop in the Niger Province, since the advent of CMS.
(b) He has excelled in document forgery, both of land conveyance documents and his wife’s academic records, attaining a standard never known to any bishop in Niger Province, since the advent of CMS.
(c) As Bishop in Awka Diocese, he has stimulated the highest amount of agitation from communities desirous for new dioceses, never seen before in any of the dioceses in the Niger Province
(d) Ibezim, has accumulated the highest number of petitions to the Primates desk, than any other bishop presently, in Niger Province.
(e) Ibezims’ inordinate wealth and assets accumulation makes him the wealthiest Anglican Bishop in Nigeria.
(f) Ibezims’ country home in Mbukwu, is stunningly palatial and ostentatious in every manner. His village house rates top 5 most extravagant country home in Anambra State. Meanwhile he is not an oil merchant, renowned industrialist, etc., but a church leader. Oh Lord, how can anyone know these things and keep quiet.
(g) Ibezim is the first Bishop to utilize Church assets and funds, unilaterally to sponsor a family member to political stardom.
This is his legacy. Corruption elevated to record-breaking heights!
Our Cry to You
Your Grace, the Church teeters on the brink. One man’s greed, ambition, and deception threaten to collapse a diocese and stain the Communion. This is happening before your eyes, and Nigeria watches how you will resolve it.
We cannot be silenced.
We will continue to speak.
We see everything. We hear everything.
To save the Church, we must act.
Yours in Christ,
The “NINE CRUSAIDERS”
