Brotherhood of the Cross and Star (BCS) has accused the breakaway faction of launching frivolous campaigns against the organisation, hampering the corporate identity of BCS.
The BCS also decried the deepening crisis within the fold, accusing the faction of impersonation.
The leader, Olumba Olumba Obu, made the accusation during a media parley with journalists at the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star World Headquarters on Friday evening in Calabar.
Representing Obu, BCS secretary-general, Senator W. Digi, stated that the BCS certificate which the faction claimed was issued to the faction by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) was fake and fraudulently procured.
Obu stated that the CAC has since nullified the certificate through a letter dated February 26, 2025, after establishing the deception involved in the process of acquiring the document.
The faction, led by Victoria Clarke and Alex Igwe, had on March 1, 2025 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, declared themselves as the newly constituted Board of Trustees of BCS, a move the headquarters considers illegitimate and misleading.
Obu averred that though a 2022 court ruling nullified the appointments of BCS trustees made in 2014 following a challenge by the breakaway faction, the organisation had duly filed an appeal and a motion for stay of execution declared.
He stressed that the CAC was formally notified in the same year to place a caveat on the file pending the resolution of the legal process.
“Despite this, the breakaway group misled the CAC into issuing a new certificate of trusteeship,” he said, describing the twist as a flagrant abuse of the legal process.
Olumba Obu described the group as a dissident minority that has, since 2001, refused to recognise His Holiness Olumba Olumba Obu as the spiritual leader of the Brotherhood.
“They can break away and form their own organisation but not under the name BCS. They cannot claim to exercise freedom of worship and association while hijacking our identity,” Obu stated.
The BCS representative stated that in 2018, the group had attempted to register a separate body under the name “Brotherhood of the Cross and Star New Kingdom Ministry,” citing doctrinal differences.
He explained that BCS had no objection to their departure but strongly advised them to exclude “BCS” from the name to avoid confusing the public.
