Senator Degi stated that the BCS leadership remains firmly under the spiritual headship of His Holiness Olumba Olumba Obu …
By TheInvestigator
The Brotherhood of the Cross and Star (BCS) has reaffirmed its leadership structure and corporate status under His Holiness Olumba Olumba Obu, dismissing recent claims by a breakaway group as false and misleading.
In a press briefing held on April 18, 2025, at the BCS World Headquarters, 34 Ambo Street, Calabar, Senator B.W. Degi, Secretary of General Affairs for the organization, addressed what he described as “malicious and contemptuous” misinformation spread by a faction led by Victoria Clarke and others. The group had on March 1, 2025, during a press conference in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, declared themselves the new Board of Trustees of BCS and claimed to have ended a 24-year leadership crisis.
Senator Degi stated that the BCS leadership remains firmly under the spiritual headship of His Holiness Olumba Olumba Obu, who was anointed and crowned in 1999 by his father, Leader Olumba Olumba Obu—the founder of the organization. He emphasized that the spiritual leadership of BCS is divinely ordained and not subject to election or secular legal manipulation.
“The attempt by the breakaway group to alter the BCS Board of Trustees has failed,” Degi said, noting that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) had withdrawn the certificate issued to the breakaway group on January 15, 2025, after a caveat was placed due to an ongoing appeal regarding the matter. “The current and recognized trustees remain as originally constituted, including Leader Olumba Olumba Obu, His Holiness Olumba Olumba Obu, and 10 others.”
According to the briefing, the controversial group had previously sought to register a separate religious entity under the name “Brotherhood of the Cross and Star New Kingdom Ministry” in 2018 but allegedly failed to distinguish itself from the original BCS. Legal battles ensued over trusteeship, culminating in a 2022 court judgment that was appealed by the BCS.
Senator Degi also cited incidents of alleged unlawful occupation and destruction of property by the group, including a forceful takeover of the Nsikak Eduok Bethel in Uyo on October 20, 2024—three days after a High Court ruling against them regarding the property.
He criticized the group for selective acceptance of the teachings of the founder, stating, “They claim to revere Leader Olumba Olumba Obu as God but deny the Sonship and leadership of His Holiness Olumba Olumba Obu, who was divinely appointed.”
In conclusion, he reaffirmed the mission of BCS to preach peace and universal love, quoting Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”