A Brief History of St. Paul Catholic Church Ibafo, Ogun
State.
The history of the establishment of what now stands as St. Paul
Catholic Church, Ibafo cannot be divorced from the missionary endeavours of
Rev. Frs. Patrick Adegbite (now late) and John Trout who, around the late and
early 90s, were working at the Holy Family Catholic Church, Festac Town Lagos.
At inception, Ibafo was a very small village of which nothing
was known, and the only assembly of Catholics were in the neighbouring towns of
Asese and Mowe which were quite a distance away from Ibafo. By divine
providence, and through work of late Mr. Paul Kayode . Aluko who was seconded by the Frs.
Adegite and Trout, a venue for meetings and devotion was made available in the
abode of a certain “Baba Sunday”, and on July 12, 1992 the first Service was
held and that signalled the beginning of the new Station Church. The service
was conducted by Mr. Paul K. Aluko, the very first Catechist and had in
attendance the following individuals and families who were the pioneer members
of the congregation:
1 . Mr.
Julius Anukwu and family
2 . Mrs.
Veronica Ogbonna and children
3 . Mr.
Daniel Omogor
4 . Mr.
James Edeh
5 . Mr.
Samuel Onwe and family
6 . Mr.
Emmanuel Olutu (now late)
7 . Mr.
Sunday Okeke
8 . Mr.
Sunday Nwa-Efuru
9 . Miss
Rebecca.
It is noteworthy to state here that that first assembly of
Catholics in 1992 had no formal name to identify it however the name, “St. Paul” was
suggested by late Samuel Owen who became a member of the new station church at
its infancy. With more Catholics relocating to Ibafo, the congregation began to
increase and this led to a relocation of the assembly to a fairly bigger room
located behind the area where the Ibafo Police Station now stands, under the
care of one Chief Aaron Okafor who himself not being a member, allowed the
station to hold its services and devotions absolutely free. In appreciation for
his magnanimity the station church was always wont to send gifts to him.
For an infant congregation as it were at that time, Masses were
celebrated only at the availability of a priest. In fact, it was almost
considered a luxury to have a priest around to celebrate the Holy Mass for the
new congregation.
In a bid to ensure that the already baptised Catholics whose
number were beginning to further increase have the opportunity to receive the
sacraments of reconciliation, and Eucharist without travelling so far, a number
of steps were taken. Prince M. Adejolu led a group to meet with Mongsr. Patrick
Ade Shomide who had been visiting Ibafo to see his relatives and for hunting
expeditions and appealed to him to assist in celebrating the Mass for us. He
willingly agreed to begin the following week.
The desire to be affiliated to a parish in order to have
benefits of a rather permanent sacerdotal leadership spurred Prince M. O.
Adejolu again in 1996 following an information from Mrs. Sabina Abimbola about
the visit of the Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Dr. Anthony Olubunmi Okogie
(later Cardinal) to St. Michael Catholic Church Ketu to lead a group
comprising: Mr. Paul K. Aluko, Mrs. Sabina Abimbola, Mrs. Veronica Ogbonna,
Mrs. Juliana Adejolu, and Mr. Julius Anukwu to discuss with the Archbishop on
their “thirst for the good news”. After the discussion which was held at the
Catholic Church of the Resurrection Shangisha, the Archbishop instructed Rev.
Fr. John Trout to take care of the congregation, and also instructed the group
to write a letter stating their request. In his response through a letter dated
9th October 1996 he said inter alia that:
“while
promising to look into your request... Rev. Fr. John Trout of Ketu could
continue his assistance to the community [of Catholics in Ibafo].”
After Fr. John Trout, and Mongr. Patrick A. Shomide, came Rev.
Fr. Segun Peters (MSP) who helped in saying Mass whenever duties made Fr. Trout
and Mongr. Patrick Shomide unavailable.
When in 1997 the Catholic Diocese was excised from the
Archdiocese of Lagos, St. Paul Catholic Church became an outstation of St. Anne
Catholic Church, Ibara under the pastoral administration of the Vicar General,
Very Rev. Fr. Christopher Gbogboade Ajala. When St. Julius Catholic Church
Agbado, became a parish, the Church in Ibafo was transferred as an outstation
to Agbado Parish under the Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Lewis.
Subsequently, a permanent place for worship became the concern
as the usual place became cramped due to over population. Mongr. Shomide
assisted by writing a letter to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta,
Most Revd. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins who in turn acquired four acres of land
and obtained all necessary documents along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. However due
certain circumstances the church in Ibafo could not take full possession of the
land but settled at the present location where the church now stands.
On January 31, 2004, St. Paul Catholic Church Ibafo was declared
a parish and on February 20, 2004 Rev. Fr. Patrick Adeoluwa Feyisetan resumed
as the first Parish Priest of Ibafo Parish. The existing neighbouring parishes:
St. Patrick Catholic Church Aseese, and St. Michael Catholic Church Mowe were
by the declaration of January 31, 2004, made outstation of St. Paul, Ibafo –
the first outstations.
Under the administration of Rev. Fr. Patrick A. Feyisetan, two
other outstations were created to bring the church closer to the people, and to
encourage members at very distant areas who may be discouraged by the risk of
running across the expressway, and to bring back members that may be finding
alternatives in Pentecostal or non-Catholic denominations. The outstation
churches were St. Thomas Catholic Church Papa, and St. Ignatius of Loyola
Magboro.
Following the transfer of the Fr. Patrick Feyisetan in 2005, Rev.
Fr. David Kehinde Akala and subsequently Frs. James Olubiyi, and Martin Okeke,
his assistants were posted to continue with the young parish. Under him The
Catholic Church of the Transfiguration Arepo, and those in Warewa and Oke Afa
were created; and the current building structure in Ibafo in which worship and
devotions are held was completed. In less than ten years and as a result of the
work of God in progress which saw the jurisdiction of the parish extending to
as far as from Olori to Wariwa which now falls under the jurisdiction of St.
Michael Catholic Church Mowe and Catholic Church of the Transfiguration Arepo
respectively, entire region was raised to the status of a deanery.
