17/08/2026
REV'D LEO'S SUSPENSION PT. 4
The rain had begun before dawn that morning, beating softly against the rusty roof of Rev’d Leo’s quarters. Inside the small house, there was an unusual silence. His wife sat quietly in one corner, her eyes swollen from hours of crying. Their children moved about cautiously, as though they had learned that even the slightest noise could awaken another storm.
Rev’d Leo sat on an old wooden chair, staring blankly at the floor. His clerical shirt, once a symbol of dignity and service, had completely faded. His shoulders had become thinner. His face, once full and radiant, now carried the unmistakable marks of prolonged sorrow. Three years of uncertainty had carved lines into his forehead that no sermon, prayer or medicine seemed capable of removing.
Now Rev'd Leo had become a priest without a parish, a vine dresser without a vineyard, a man without salary, yet expected to match family responsibilities.nHis ordeal stemmed on episcopal vow to crush an ant with a sledgehammer.
Bishop Patrick was a powerful and imposing church leader who carried himself with the confidence of a man accustomed to obedience. His decisions were rarely questioned as he had men's destinies tossed about.
It surprised many that the bishop had a report from a panel he personally set which he kept ignoring. Anyway, what could such a report amount to when it contradicted the very whims that founded it. The report was thrashed in a file within the bishop's office and has never been allowed to speak.
The entire effect of the silent panel report was on Rev’d Leo who had spent years preaching about forgiveness, obedience and peace. But when the bishop's order to leave his quarters with no alternative house came, he found himself facing a question that had no easy answer.
Unable to process the bishop's determination to destroy his ministry and cast him to the outer darkness, Rev’d Leo petitioned the Archbishop. The petition eventually found its way to the Conflict Resolution Committee.
At last, Rev’d Leo felt a small ray of hope.
He appeared before the peace committee and told his story. He spoke of his innocent admonition to his boss on immorality, the panel report that never spoke, the pressure to vacate his quarters for nowhere, the unwarranted suspension and the uncertainty of breathing in after breathing out.
Bishop Patrick was also invited by the committee to present his own side of the story. The committee listened carefully and fairly to both unequalled sides and could form an opinion.
When the committee's decision finally came, Rev’d Leo's face that had lost touch with laughter for long, smiled again for once. His long nightmare was coming to an end or so it was thought.
The committee directed Bishop Patrick to restore Rev'd Leo and pay his outstanding stipend and allowances. On the alternative, the bishop could pay the Rev'd off and release him to another diocese if he no longer wanted him in his own diocese.
Bishop Patrick chose to release him and that didn't pull a hair out of Rev'd Leo's body. However, while the outstanding pays were yet to be attended to, a release letter came. The release was strangely incomplete. No new diocese was named and no bishop was identified.
Rev’d Leo looked at the document and wondered what kind of release could send a man everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He became convinced that the arrangement was simply a disguised dismissal.
The most confusing and chaotic moment came. Rev'd Leo was invited by the diocesan financial secretary. On arrival , the Rev'd was shown the vouchers for his three years outstanding stipends and allowances.
"Rev'd the vouchers are ready for your signature but the bishop said you must vacate your quarters before you can sign them and collect your money" explained the financial secretary.
"Where does the bishop want me to park to for God's sake" asked Rev'd Leo in bewilderment, his eyes red with restrained tears.
The financial secretary had all but the answer to that question. A few minutes of silence separated the Rev'd's question and his departure from the financial secretary's office.
In another twist of decision, Rev'd Leo filed an appeal with the same provincial peace committee whose decision the bishop chose to toil with. Expectedly, nothing came out of the appeal process. The bishop's guts appeared stronger than the committee's boldness.
Bishop Patrick had thought that Rev'd Leo would jump on the offer to collect his outstanding stipends and allowances by quickly vacating his apartment but his thoughts proved untrue. Rev'd Leo needed the money but was more concerned with the future of his ministry.
The bishop in choosing to be civil in displacing Rev'd Leo, eventually approached the court, seeking to have Rev’d Leo evicted by court order. The attempt incidentally failed. Rev'd Leo's accommodation was incidental to his office as a priest. With his status at the time shown to be buried in vagueness and uncertainty, the court would not favour his ejection alongside his family.
Just when it was thought that the worst was over for Rev'd Leo in terms of his embattled accommodation, a priest of the diocese came to his quarters with some young men. They did not come carrying Bibles or pastoral letters. They came with force that changed the atmosphere around the quarters. Rev’d Leo's family watched helplessly as the confrontation escalated. The men physically attacked him and forcibly threw his properties out of the house.
The priest who had once stood before congregations preaching peace now found himself struggling against men who had come to remove him from the only place he could call home.
Then came another tragedy. Rev'd Leo's sick father had handed the sum of
₦2 million to him when the hope of recovering the Rev'd's outstanding stipends and allowances from the church was dashed. The money was the proceed of the old man's remaining landed property he sold to ensure his son and family would not be extinct.
The ₦2 million got missing in the aftermath of the attempt to violently evict the Rev'd from his apartment. The disappearance of the money destroyed the joy that accompanied the sacrifice of an elderly man who couldn't watch his daughter in-law and grand children perish in penury.
Amid the confusion surrounding the missing money, Rev’d Leo called in the police. He expected protection and justice but something happened that left him even more helpless.
Bishop Patrick invited the police officers to his office. Whatever transpired between the bishop and the officers remained unclear but suddenly the officers withdrew from the matter. When Rev’d Leo demanded to know why, the police told him that their hands were tied.
The suffering continued. Rev'd Leo's family watched him deteriorate. The strong voice that once proclaimed Scriptures regularly had become weak.
His body had begun to show what his heart had suffered in silence.
He had given his life to the ministry, preaching to the poor and praying for the sick. He had comforted grieving families and stood beside people when they had nowhere else to turn. Now he was the one who needed someone to stand beside him.
His wife watched helplessly as her husband's health deteriorated. The children watched their father struggle.
The elderly father who had sold his land to help the family carried his own burden of illness and sorrow. The entire family seemed trapped in a storm that refused to pass.
Finally, Rev’d Leo's lawyer could no longer remain silent.
He gathered the documents, reviewed the history of the dispute and prepared to take the matter up before the court.
To be continued...
