Posted on 01/10/2006 6:41:34 PM PST by sionnsar
Tricksters seeking to take financial advantage of the divisions within the Anglican Communion through false tales of persecution and woe are at work in Nigeria, the Church of Nigeria reports.
The British pressure group, Changing Attitude, the Church of Nigeria notes, was a victim of one such scam.
In a statement released on December 31, the Church of Nigeria’s Press Office warned of “fraudulent personalities” seeking to fool unsuspecting foreigners. The Church had received “dozens of emails” concerning fraudulent schemes and advised donors to “to verify identities of people before sending money to fraudsters who have not the slightest belief in God, but are only trying to use Church sentiments to lure people.”
Church of Nigeria spokesman, Canon AkinTunde Popoola, cited the case of Changing Attitude and Davis Mac Ayalla.
Claiming to be a school teacher “sacked and victimised for his homosexuality” by the Church of Nigeria, Mac Ayalla approached Changing Attitude, seeking their assistance to start a Nigerian chapter of the organisation.
Mac Ayalla’s “Changing Attitudes Nigeria” allegedly held the first conference for gay and lesbian Nigerian Anglicans in Abuja on Nov 25-27, organised with the assistance of Changing Attitude in the UK. Nigerian tabloid reports, uncritically picked up by the Western media, reported that upwards of 800 people attended the gathering.
Canon Popoola stated that he went to the Conference Hall and found no evidence of the Changing Attitudes Nigeria gathering. “I asked around. Nobody seemed to know. I had two different people call from different phones to indicate interest in attending.”
Each received the same response, the “meeting was postponed due to National Carnival.” The Nigerian press reports on the gathering were written from press releases and interviews with Mac Ayalla, and not from independent investigation, he noted.
There were people in the Conference Hall on the nights Mac Ayalla claimed to lead the Changing Attitude Nigerian gathering, Canon Popoola said, however, they were attending “drama shows on both Friday and Saturday nights in the hall as part of programmes for the National Carnival”.
An investigation by the Church of Nigeria revealed that in 2003 Mac Ayalla allegedly embezzled funds from the diocese of Otukpo. After proposing marriage to the bishop’s daughter, Mac Ayalla “took up an appointment” with the diocese and upon the death of the Bishop “broke off the engagement and made away with large sums of money including salaries due to some staff. Since then, he has not been seen in Otukpo where he is wanted by the Police,” Canon Popoola said.
The Rev Colin Coward, director of Changing Attitude, told The Church of England Newspaper he had put “each allegation” to Davis Mac Ayalla and had consulted “people and records that would verify account of events and of his personality and life history”.
Mr Coward noted that while “there are many questions I would like to know the answer to”, he remained “confident in Davis and his commitment to work on behalf of lesbian and gay Anglicans in Nigeria.”
In a statement released through Changing Attitude, Mac Ayalla denies the allegations of fraud.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. An email from someone in Nigeria solicting funds was fradulent? Next they'll be emailing average folks looking to wire millions to the US.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.