CHANGING ATTITUDE NIGERIA NEWS

PRESS RELEASE

Nigerian Anglican hostility to gays and threat to Davis MacIyalla revealed

Monday, 17 April 2006

A member of Changing Attitude Nigeria (CAN) and the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has revealed in an email to Davis MacIyalla, Director of CAN, that war is being waged against lesbian and gay members by the Church and having a profoundly damaging effect on their faith, confidence and security.

Lesbian and gay church members are now living in fear of their lives should their sexual identity be discovered.

The writer of the email says “The police are looking for you everywhere and the curate was saying it is better if any one knows they are gay or lesbian to confess to the church before MacIyalla is arrested and will give your names to the church. I am begging you in the name of God not to mention me if the police arrest you.”

In the parishes of Nigeria, Davis is being sought out, and the clergy are preaching and praying against gay people. The author wrote to Davis that you: “promised us peace and in return we get war. We your friends in Port Harcourt feel so bad about the news we keep hearing about you each time we go to church. Are you the only Anglican gay? Am I not one? Why not save us this embarrassment of Changing Attitude so the ministers of God will stop their bad prayers on all gay people.”

The Church is deliberately and successfully creating an atmosphere of fear and paranoia amongst her lesbian and gay members. This is undermining, as it is surely intended to do, the confidence of CAN members in the leadership of Davis MacIyalla and the path on which he is leading them. In the email the CAN member says that Davis has: “started a battle you will have to fight alone. The bill to ban same sex marriage was published as a result of our General Meeting. What do you want from us Anglican gays, Davis? We love you Davis but we are afraid you will get all of us in jail soon. Just be careful and don’t get us into trouble.”

Most damning for the Church of Nigeria is the revelation that “it was on the church news that you (Davis) are back and will be arrested soon.”

Another friend sent an email later on Monday, confirming the first email report and reinforcing the way in which the Anglican Church is using the police to seek Davis and arrest him:

"Right now I am very scared about the situation and I want to ask you if you told any one that you are back from Geneva as I am surprised how the church came to know that you are back from Geneva. They have been searching for you seriously, using the Nigerian police to move around in search of you. Another friend … came with a report that the story has been published in the newspapers that you have escaped from Nigeria, and even from Africa. He said that if there is any way that I can contact you I should tell you that the church is seriously searching for you with the police seeking for your arrest because you have given a bad name to the Anglican church, and Nigeria as a whole."

These emails will bring private satisfaction to the Revd Canon Akintunde Popoola, Director of Communication for the Church of Nigeria, who has been waging a campaign against Davis’s reputation beginning with the Press Release and Disclaimer issued on 28 December 2005.

Despite repeated requests to cease attacking Davis personally and invitations to describe how the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) is responding to resolution 1.10 of the Lambeth Conference 1998 and the Windsor Report published in 2005, Canon Popoola has chosen to publish new insinuations against Davis and refer back to the original and totally unsubstantiated allegations instead of addressing the substantive issue of how the Church is going to listen to the experience of lesbian and gay people.

END

Davis Mac-Iyalla
Director Changing Attitude Nigeria
Email: davis@nigeria.changingattitude.org

In the UK:
Revd Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude England
Tel. 01380 724908
Mobile: 07770 844302
email: colin@changingattitude.org

Telephone 01380 724908
E-mail office@changingattitude.org

This page was last updated on Monday, 18 August 2008