According to Vanguard, tension is escalating in the Ozobo community of Burutu Local Government Area, Delta State, following the demolition of the Osuopele Temple by members of the Great God Holy Tabernacle Ministry, a new generation church. The temple, a sacred site for worshippers of the Osuopele Deity, was destroyed by Prophet Tamarauebi Owan and his congregation. This incident has caused significant unrest among the traditional worshippers in the community.
The demolition is not the first of its kind. Timipre Ndoni, the newly-installed High Priest of the Osuopele Deity, confirmed that Prophet Owan began his attacks on the temple as early as 2019. In that year, Owan organized a crusade titled Jesu Ode and took advantage of the event to cut down a 150-year-old healing tree, which was a symbol of the Osuopele deity. At the time, the temple lacked leadership due to the absence of a chief priest, and no immediate action was taken. Owan repeated the same actions in 2022.
However, the situation changed in 2024 when Ndoni was ordained as the new high priest. “On March 6, 2024, I was installed as the chief priest of Osuopele, and I declared that we would not tolerate any form of religious intolerance,” Ndoni said. Following his installation, Ndoni and his followers sought to engage with the local community leaders, including the paramount ruler and the Community Development Committee (CDC) chairman, urging them to intervene and stop Owan from further invading the temple.
Despite these efforts, Prophet Owan returned to Ozobo on December 19, 2024, with another crusade, during which he led his followers to destroy the Osuopele Temple once again. Ndoni, while condemning the attack, chose to restrain his followers from retaliation, fearing further violence. “We have come out to seek justice and to ask whether there is freedom of religion and worship in Nigeria,” Ndoni stated. “We will soon file a lawsuit to enforce our fundamental rights and seek damages for the destruction of our temple.”
Ndoni also expressed frustration over the situation, saying, “People have begged the clergyman to stop, but he remains boastful, claiming that nothing will happen.”
In his defense, Prophet Owan denied any personal vendetta against the traditional worshippers. “I have no case with anyone. If idols or properties of a deity are destroyed, it is for the deity to fight for itself,” Owan argued. “If the idols cannot fight for themselves, why should humans intervene?” He further stated that he had destroyed the temple because the community had found that the idols no longer benefited anyone. “This is not the first time I have destroyed the place; it has been happening over the years,” he said.
Owan, who is an indigene of Ozobo, also questioned the legitimacy of the worshippers, asking, “Who authorized them to worship this deity? It belongs to the community, and the leadership of the community has the final say.”
The Ijaw Cultural Heritage Centre (ICHC), a human rights organization, has called for immediate intervention from the Nigeria Police Force to prevent the situation from escalating into a full-blown religious conflict. Apostle Bodmas Kemepadei, the chairman of ICHC, described the actions of Owan and his congregation as a violation of the fundamental rights of the Osuopele worshippers, as guaranteed by Section 38 of the Nigerian Constitution. “This is a clear case of intimidation, harassment, and infringement on our rights to worship,” Kemepadei said.
He urged the authorities to act swiftly, emphasizing that the situation must be handled carefully to avoid a larger inter-religious crisis. “We are doing our best to calm the tempers of our worshippers, but we need the police to step in before this escalates further,” he added.
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