ORDEAL OF THE UNICAL CHAPEL OF REDEMPTION (UCOR) FROM 2024 TO DATE

By Concerned UCOR Members

Background information

UNICAL Chapel of Redemption (UCOR) is an independent, interdenominational and non-denominational Christian Chapel for non-Catholic congregation of the University of Calabar community and duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The Chapel operates under its constitution, which provides the framework for its leadership structure, elections, administration, finances and other aspects of its ecclesiastical activities.

The problem of Unical Chapel of Redemption started decades before 2024. There have always been conflicts between the Council of the Church and the Chaplain from the time the constitution of the Church was birthed. Rev. Felix Ajoku (Chaplain, 2000 -2010) suffered it. Rev. Israel Eyo ( Chaplain, 2011-2021) was not spared this affliction. He was thoroughly humiliated by the Council. It is so sad and unimaginable that the same Rev. Israel Eyo is being used today by the Ajah’s group to fight Rev. Ushie in the name of an Interim Chaplain. Rev. Joseph Ushie ( Chaplain, 2021- date) is presently under fire by the Prof. Ajah-led former Council. The problem keeps escalating with time and depending on who heads the Council at what time. The 2024 version of the conflict assumed a very unfortunate dimension with Prof. Paul Ajah’s  former Council which was voted out in 2025. The Ajah-led Council, together with his aggrieved supporters are responsible for these avoidable but surmountable crises. Ajah was particularly pained for losing his second term bid election in 2025. He vowed that Rev. Ushie must also go.
The reason behind the continuous conflict is rooted in the nature of the constitution which is fashioned to mimic the secular oganogram of the Nigerian University Condition of Service where the Chairman of Council (Pro Chancellor) is at the saddle of corporate policy. In Unical Chapel of Redemption the Chaplain is treated by the Council of the Church as a mere employee and is not given the liberty to express the call of God upon his life , nor does he have the leverage to run the Church as may be directed by the Holy Spirit. The Church is now saying enough of that cycle.

However, the events from 2024 to date have escalated into what has become a serious leadership and administrative crisis involving the former Church Council, the incumbent Council, the Chaplain, and, more recently, the University of Calabar administration.

This report provides a chronological account of the major events, disputes and developments between the Church Council and the Chaplain since 2024, with the objective of presenting the issues clearly and drawing attention to the need for justice, due process, respect for the church’s constitution and peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Events During the Prof. Paul Ajah-Led Church Council

During the tenure of the Church Council led by Prof. Paul Ajah in 2024, the major areas of disagreement noticed by the congregation concerned the appointment of an Assistant Chaplain and the running of two services on Sundays, which Rev. Joseph Ushie initially didn’t see the need for it, but however decided to make consultations to be well guided on the proper decision to take.

On the running of two services, the Chaplain consulted with the members of the Church during workers meeting, and majority of the church workers objected to it. They rather suggested that the Chaplain should maintain one brief service, so that the members, who are mostly students can always return home in time to attend to their studies. On the appointment of an Assistant Chaplain, Rev. Joseph Ushie’s consultations revealed that it was the responsibility of the Chaplaincy and not that of Council to recommend a minister for appointment as an Assistant Chaplain.
The Paul Ajah led Council considered Rev. Joseph Ushie’s decision to consult with the Church workers on the running of two services as a direct afront on them as they opined that he didn’t have the right to negotiate their decision. They also challenged that the Council does not need the Chaplaincy’s input on the appointment of an Assistant Chaplain, despite the UCOR’s constitutional provision for such.

The issue of the appointment of an Assistant Chaplain was later brought to the floor of the Congregation during a Congregational meeting, and the Congregation directed that the Council should hold on with the appointment of an Assistant Chaplain. The Paul Ajah led Council ignored the directive of the Congregation and went ahead to appoint Rev. Lazurus Aneke of the Anglican Communion Church as the Assistant Chaplain, an appointment that the Congregation considered as an imposition on the Church, as it was never ratified by the Congregation as required by the Constitution.

The Paul Ajah led Council had a way of always manipulating their way through. Since they couldn’t get the Congregation to ratify the appointment of the Assistant Chaplain and the running of the two services, they rather choose to use the backdoor by approaching the Calabar Presbytery of the Assemblies of God Church, which happens to be Rev. Joseph Ushie’s home church, and a past Chaplain to talk with Rev. Ushie. For the interest of peace, Rev. Joseph Ushie accepted both the imposition of the Assistant Chaplain and the running of two services, a decision that took the Congregation by surprise, but was also accepted for the interest of peace.

Autocratic Council disposition

The Paul Ajah led Council took exceptions to Rev. Joseph Ushie decision to consult with the Church workers on directives issued to him. It was obvious that the council had no regard for the Congregation, as they believed in taking autonomous decisions that should never be challenged.
The former Council Chairman Prof. Paul Ajah, in a bid to intimidate Rev. Joseph Ushie wrote an insulting letter of caution to him. The Chaplain who is a prolific writer responded extensively to Prof. Paul Ajah’s letter, his response ran into 42 pages. Rather than treating the letter as response to an initial allegations and insult to his person, members of the congregation observed that Paul Ajah led exco rather choose to use Rev. Joseph Ushie’s length and content of the response against him.
The Paul Ajah led Council’s autocratic disposition witnessed many major decisions taken without ratification from the congregation, some of such decisions included the appointment of Rev. Lazurus Aneke as the Assistant Chaplain and the termination of Rev. Joseph Ushie’s appointment and attempted forceful eviction from office and residence using unidentified gunmen.

The Chaplain’s attempted unlawful dismissal and eviction happened to stir up a strong opposition from the Congregation, who now say enough is enough to assault on serving Chaplains.
The Paul Ajah-led Church Council also went to the Executive Council (EC) of the Assemblies of God (AG) Church Enugu with a team of members tag aggrieved members to influence them to withdraw the Chaplain from UCOR, this was after the same persuasion was made on the Calabar Presbytery of the Assemblies of God Church without success. They proceeded to Enugu where it is believed that some of the aggrieved members have a long-standing relationship with some of the EC members of AG. All of the visit to the Assemblies of God church, both at the Calabar Presbytery and EC Enugu was without the knowledge of the Church Congregation, another autocratic decision!

Attempted eviction and intervention of the former Vice-Chancellor

The Paul Ajah-led Church Council held an overnight meeting at which a decision was taken to dismiss the Chaplain without the prior consent or approval of the congregation, and in less than 24 hours of issuing the dismissal letter, a serious confrontation occurred at the Chaplain’s office and his official residence.
Prof. Paul Ajah and Mr. Eguma Agbor arrived at the Chaplain’s office accompanied by unknown armed men and reportedly locked up the office, they also at gun point asked the Chaplain’s driver to remove all of Rev. Joseph Ushie’s items from his official vehicle and forcefully collected the car key from him.

They then proceeded to the Chaplain’s official residence and attempted to evict Rev. Ushie from his official residence. By this time, the news had gotten to some members of the congregation who arrived at the scene. One of security operatives who lives close to the Chaplain’s official resident called and reported the incident to the then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Banku Obi. Following the report, the Vice-Chancellor was said to have contacted the Commissioner of Police, resulting in the deployment of armed police officers to the scene.

The former Vice-Chancellor subsequently directed that Rev. Ushie’s official vehicle keys be returned to him and summoned the individuals involved to her office. During the summoned by Prof. Florence Banku Obi, Prof. Paul Ajah advised that the VC Prof. Florence Obi should stay away from UCOR matter as it has nothing to do with the University administration.

Surprisingly, the same group that asked Prof Obi to stay off UCOR matters are now the ones using the current VC, Prof. Offiong E. Offiong to intimidate the Chaplain and members of UCOR Congregation.

The 2025 UCOR Council Election

In accordance with the UCOR Constitution, an Electoral Committee was constituted by Prof. Paul Ajah and his executives to conduct the 2025 Council election on the 23rd February, 2025. Registered members of the congregation were accredited by the Electoral Committee, and only accredited members were permitted to vote.
At the conclusion of the voting exercise, in which the votes were counted openly in the presence of members of the congregation.

Prof. Esien David-Oku emerged as the elected Chairman of Council, securing 179 votes against his close contestants, Prof. Paul Ajah and Prof. Bassey Asikong who secured 120 votes and 51 votes respectively. Other members of the Church Council were also elected, including Mr. Imo Nse, who emerged as the Secretary of Council.
The result of this election did not go down well with Prof. Paul Ajah and his then Council Secretary Mr. Eguma Agbor who believed that Rev. Joseph Ushie was indirectly responsible for their predicament of losing the election. They therefore allegedly vowed that since they have been denied the opportunity of a second term, Rev. Ushie will not also have a second term as the Chaplain of UCOR.

Failure to conduct a proper handover

Following the failure of Prof. Paul Ajah and Mr. Eguma Agbor to get reelected for a second term into Council, and the aborted attempt of the Paul Ajah-led Church Council to dismiss Rev. Joseph Ushie as the Chaplain of UCOR, the past Council refused to do a comprehensive and timely handover to the newly elected Prof. Esien David-Oku led Council. Their undocumented condition for handover was that the newly elected Council should affect the dismissal of Rev. Joseph Ushie, a condition that was not obliged to by Prof. Esien David-Oku.

The incumbent Chairman, Prof. David Esien Oku, subsequently sought the assistance of Bar. Akpabio, a former legal adviser of the Council, who persuaded Prof. Paul Ajah to release some administrative document. However, every attempt for the handover of the financial document and the change of signatories to the church bank account has been vehemently resisted till date.

7 . Demand for Forensic Audit

Upon the assumption of leadership as the Chairman of UCOR Church Council, Prof. Esien David-Oku was directed by the then BOT to institute a comprehensive forensic audit of the finances and activities of the previous administration ranging from the parsonage project at Satellite Town to children’s department renovation down to the Union Bank account. This order was overwhelmingly ratified by the Congregation during congregational meeting.

The objective of the forensic audit was to establish how UCOR funds had been received, managed and expended during the tenure of the Prof. Paul Ajah led Council, a situation that was opposed to by Prof. Paul Ajah, as the former Church Council did not submit itself to the proposed forensic audit.

The congregation tried to persuade the Treasurer of the Prof. Paul Ajah led Council; Dr. Obal Usang to sign the necessary bank account change-of-signatory documentation to no avail. A situation that led the congregation to subsequently passed a vote of no confidence on the Treasurer, following which a new Treasurer in the person of Dr. Ugo Bassey was nominated by a majority vote.

Upon the Congregation’s nomination of a new Treasurer, the Prof. Paul Ajah led Council went ahead to freeze the church’s bank account with Union Bank in an attempt to frustrate the new Council to have access to the account till date, a situation that has greatly affected the smooth administration of the Church. However, the Prof. Esien David-Oku led council had to open an Emergency Fund account with the UNICAL Microfinance bank, in other to cushion the effect of not having access to the Union bank account.

Litigation and Court Proceedings

Prof. Paul Ajah led dissolved Council went ahead to institute four court cases against the Chaplain Rev. Joseph Ushie, Prof. Esien David-Oku and the Secretary, Mr. Imo Nse as the defendants. Three of the four court cases have already been decided by the different presiding judges, with judgments in favour of the defendants [Certified True Copies (CTCs) of the relevant judgments are available for examination by interested parties]. Despite losing the three court cases, Prof. Paul Ajah and his team of aggrieved members go about deceiving people that they won all the court cases.

The fourth case which they instituted that is still under litigation in court has to do with all the past Church Council Chairmen of UCOR insisting to be made a live Ex Officio member of the Council. Members of the Congregation during a Congregational meeting had passed a resolution that it is only the immediate past Chairman of Council that should be the Ex Officio member of the Council. It should be noted that all the past Council members are among the aggrieved members that were involved in the illegal dismissal of Rev. Ushie. It is therefore an issue of concern to the congregation as to why one would want to be a live member of the Church Council. The court is yet to decide on this.

Since the Prof. Paul Ajah led dissolved Council and their gang of aggrieved members could not win any case in court against the defendants, they now resort to using the influence of the office of current Vice Chancellor against the Church.

The emergence of the current university administration

The leadership crisis took a new dimension following the assumption of office of the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Offiong Effanga Offiong. The Vice-Chancellor became involved in the UCOR dispute following a report made to him by some members of the Prof. Paul Ajah led dissolved Council and prominent aggrieved members who are appointees and close allies of the Vice Chancellor.
It is the position of the congregation that the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Offiong Effanga Offiong may not have been adequately briefed on the historical background, constitutional framework and ongoing legal proceedings surrounding the crisis in the Chapel before taking certain administrative decisions against the Chapel current leadership.

Upon getting privileged information that the Vice-Chancellor has been briefed on Chapel matters, the incumbent Council Chairman Prof. Esien David-Oku and the Chaplain along with some members of the congregation made several efforts to see the Vice-Chancellor. Unfortunately, the Vice-Chancellor refused to meet with them.

The Vice-Chancellor suddenly sent for the Council Chairman Prof. Esien David-Oku, when he got information from his favorite allies that the Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC) of Nigeria had withdrawn the certificate of registration earlier issued for the registration of UCOR Board of Trustees (BOT), a registration that was petitioned by Prof. Esien David-Oku as not having followed due process and laced with a lot of illegalities. The withdrawal of the certificate of registration and subsequent returned of the UCOR BOT to status quo ante bellum with only Prof. Emmanuel Edet and Mrs. Uka as the authentic BOT members of UCOR gave the red flag that all the cases earlier instituted against the defendants would be struck out.

The Vice-Chancellor’s injustice against Prof. Esien David-Oku

At the meeting with the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Esien David-Oku expressed his ordeal since the assumption of duties and the non-willingness of the Prof. Paul Ajah led dissolved Council to do proper handing over to his administration, and their insistence to unlawfully dismissed the Chaplain before any handing over can be done, to the Vice-Chancellor.
The Vice-Chancellor after listening to Prof. Esien David-Oku and his team, fixed a date to hear out both parties, a move that was highly commendable.

However, the meeting took a different turn of events as the Vice-Chancellor rather than settling the matter amicably, came up with his opinions of what he felt would be the solution to the problem. These opinions which are strongly believed to have been drafted by his allies as solutions to the crisis, were only in favour of Prof. Paul Ajah and his group.
Prof. Usang Usang who is one of the aggrieved members asked the Vice-Chancellor the timeline for the implementation of his opinion as it was well acceptable to them, the Vice-Chancellor responded that what he said were mere suggestions. It should also be noted that the Vice-Chancellor refused to address any of the issues presented to him by Prof. Esien David-Oku, during the meeting.

Unfortunately, what the Vice-Chancellor initially claimed to be mere suggestions were drafted into law to be imposed on Prof. Esien David-Oku, as he was later called by the UNICAL legal team to sign these mere suggestions as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The details of Vice-Chancellor’s mere suggestions which automatically translated to the MOU included that the Chaplain and Assistant Chaplain should be made to leave the Church, that the Prof. Esien David-Oku led Council be dissolved immediately and that the Christian Council of Nigeria be contacted to post an interim Chaplain to run the Chapel for a period of six months within which a new Chaplain will be appointed. The congregation therefore became concerned with the Vice-Chancellor’s actions, as it was perceived as taking-side in the dispute rather than being neutral.
MOU involves an understanding between aggrieved parties; in this case Prof. Esien David-Oku never agreed to any of these suggestions which the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Offiong Effanga Offiong wants to forcefully impose on him in order to please his close allies.

Unfortunately, following Prof. Esien David-Oku refusal to sign the bedevil MOU against the Chaplain and the duly elected Council of the Church, the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Offiong Effanga Offiong suspended him from his official duties as a Professor of Biochemistry in the University of Calabar, with payment of half salary till further notice. One wonders how church problem is related to Prof. Oku’s official duties as a lecturer in the University.

The Vice-Chancellor’s injustice against Rev. Joseph Ushie

It is of utmost concern that the Vice Chancellor Prof. Offiong Effanga Offiong, has never for once given Rev. joseph Ushie any audience since his assumption of office. He chooses to act on the information he gets from his close allies. He chooses to support the members of the deregistered BOT, his appointees and allies, as he would only act on information provided by them. One believes that for fairness and justice the Vice Chancellor should have consulted with the authentic BOT members as well as members of the congregation to know the true situation of things and the Church official position on the renewal of Rev. Ushie’s second term.
The Vice Chancellor maliciously leveraged his wrong actions against Rev. Ushie on the fact that his home church, AG has suspended him, a suspension that came long after he had issued his resignation letter to AG. A suspension that was masterminded by Prof. Paul Ajah and his gang of aggrieved members. The question now is, how can AG suspend one that had voluntarily retired from service?
One of the most contentious actions attributed to the current University administration against the Chaplain was the directive to vacate the official residence of the Chaplain in the University staff quarters. The Chaplain was initially given a period of three months to vacate the official residence. The second communication directed him to leave the property in two weeks, and the third communication directed that he leaves immediately. All of these three communications from the University Registrar came within one month.

Another unfortunate injustice against Rev. joseph Ushie by the Vice Chancellor was outrightly barring him from entering the University of Calabar campus. Members of the congregation questioned the legal and administrative basis for preventing a serving Chaplain and a lawful citizen of Nigeria from accessing the premises of the institution where the Chapel is located, particularly when the church had officially renewed Rev. joseph Ushie’s second tenure as the Chaplain. The congregation viewed the restriction as another indication that the University administration had moved beyond mediation into direct intervention or taking sides in the internal affairs of UCOR.

The Vice Chancellor further directed his Special Assistant on Religious matter, Rev. Timothy Ebere to take over the ecclesiastical administration of the Church as well as wrote to CCN to send in an interim Chaplain to the Chapel. Prof. Offiong Effanga Offiong disregarding the letter from the legally constituted BOT that UCOR has a substantive Chaplain and is not in need of one, and still went ahead to impose Rev Isreal Eyo on UCOR through the CCN, as an interim Chaplain.

The congregation regarded the manner in which the VC Prof. Offiong Effanga Offiong directive was implemented as humiliating and disproportionate, particularly because the leadership dispute was still being contested through legal and constitutional channels.

Alleged threats and intimidation

The Vice Chancellor Prof. Offiong Effanga Offiong, through his Special Adviser on Religious Matters Rev. Timothy Ebere, issued several threats and intimidations to members of the Chapel, especially those that are staff of the University of Calabar. He would always make reference to the suspension of Prof. Esien David-Oku as the same fate that awaits anyone that dares to challenge his directives on UCOR matters.

Members of the Chapel that are not staff of the University of Calabar were issued with letters of restrictions. These threats and intimidations raised serious questions concerning freedom of association, due process, administrative fairness and the appropriate limits of the university authority in relation to the internal governance of an independent church congregation.

Dissolution of the duly elected council and creation of a caretaker committee

Another unjust interference of the Vice-Chancellor with UCOR matters was the dissolution of the duly elected UCOR Council and the constitution of a caretaker committee with Prof. Usang Usang (a close ally of the VC) as Chairman. This development has generated significant concern among members of the congregation because the Council was elected through the procedure prescribed by the UCOR Constitution.

The central question arising from this development is whether the University administration possesses the constitutional or legal authority to dissolve an elected church council and replace it with a caretaker committee without following the procedures prescribed by the church’s governing documents or obtaining appropriate judicial authority. The congregation considers this development to be particularly troubling because the matter is already before the Federal High court of Nigeria.

What the Vice Chancellor has done is that he has used his office to forcefully implement his mere suggestions in the Chapel. He has removed the Chaplain and imposed an interim Chaplain; he has dissolved Prof. Esien David-Oku led Council and instituted a caretaker committee. These actions of the Vice Chancellor against the Chapel is a gross abuse of power.

The Chaplain’s status with Assemblies of God

Another issue that has featured prominently has to do with Rev. Joseph Ushie’s suspension from his home Church, the Assemblies of God Church. It should be noted that Rev. Ushie had earlier submitted his resignation letter to the Assemblies of God Church, Calabar Presbytery, following the several attempt by the EC of AG to forcefully ask him to withdraw his services from UCOR given the influence and manipulation of Prof. Paul Ajah and his gang of aggrieved members.

The question now is, how can AG sack a man that had long resigned from the church? The answer is not farfetched, as the Vice Chancellor and his allies needed something to hold on to in justifying their illegalities against Rev. Joseph Ushie’s. It is a big shame that a highly respected church like AG can allow their Executive Council to be used as a tool in fighting their own minister. One wonders the kind of gratification they must have gotten from this evil partnership.

Court order and the university contempt of court order
Following the illegalities and injustice against Rev Ushie by the Vice Chancellor which has prevented him from carrying out his legitimate duties as the Chaplain of UCOR.

He approached the Federal high court of Nigeria for the protection of his fundamental human rights.

The vacation Court (Federal High Court) sitting in Port Harcourt issued an injunction restraining the Vice Chancellor and his representatives in any form from interfering with the affairs of Unical Chapel of Redemption, and that Rev. Ushie should be allowed to resume his duties at the Chapel.

The court directed that the affairs of UCOR should be returned to status quo ante bellum. This order has been glaringly violated by the university management, as the VC sent the interim Chaplain and the caretaker committee to interfere with the Chapel’s Divine service on Sunday the 9th August 2026.

It took the intervention of the Police to stop the Paul Ajah’ aggrieved group from destroying lives and properties on Sunday the 9th August 2026.