Our History

THE “BIRTH” OF THE CHURCH

When Wuye District, Abuja, was a virgin land, the Federal Ministry of Finance developed within it an estate for its staff; and in 1996, the staff occupied it. But beingin a virgin area andisolated, thisposed serious challengeto Christian staff, including Catholics,as they wereforced to worship in the nearest available church which may not necessarily be of theirdenomination. This, of course, wasnotideal andso, a Catholic staff, NathanelNwaosu,in effort tofind solution to the challengediscussedwith another Catholic staff, Alexandra Ogbanufewholater became apriest. Alexandra informed that Rev Fr. AloysiusIsua, the Parish Priest of Holy Rosary, Wuse, was ready to offer Masses on Sundays in the Estate if the number of Catholic faithful was about fifty-five. A meeting was held in the residence of IdimIta-Idimwhere it was decided that staff should be sensitized. Through thesensitization were mobilized fifty-two Catholic staff and so, Rev. Fr. AloysiousIsua was invited for Sunday Masses in the Estate. The maiden Mass, celebrated in 1997 in the residence of Paul O. Benemoh, was attended by thirty-six Catholic staff. A time camewhen Benemoh was on an official trip and his place was inaccessible, Agnes B. C. Oseigbe thenoffered the use of her residence as alternative venue. The number ofworshipers grew and space soon became an issue which led to renting of canopy for Masses.

THE CHOICE OF NAME

After a Mass wascelebrated in the residence of Agnes Oseigbeone Sunday, worshipers held a meeting to give a name to the new Church. Of thenames canvassed, three were prominent; St. Anthonybecause Chief Anthony Ani was the Minister of Finance then, St. Aloysius because Rev. Fr. Aloysius Isua was the pioneer priest and finally, St. Agnes as the patron saint of Agnes Oseigbe whose residence wasbeing used for celebrating masses. The popular opinion favoured St. Agnes and the Church was so named.Agnes Oseigbe considered this an honour and so, when at a future time she was approached with an offer to allow the Church the use of theentire house, she heartilyconsented.

THE CHURCH AS OUT-STATION

St. Agnes became recognised as an out-station of the Holy Rosary Parish in 1997 under Rev. Fr. Aloysius Isua and subsequently Rev. Fr. Fabian AbogaistEssien and later toRev. Fr. Patrick Alumuku in 1998. They had as Assistant Priests Rev. Fr. Celestine Ejim,Rev. Fr. Aloysius Udo, Rev. Fr. AdemEmaikwu,Rev. Fr. Christopher Bologo and Rev. Fr. John Obi. Rev. Fr. Cyril Nwafor was assigned fromtheOffice of the Archbishop to celebrate mass regularly on Sundays in the immediate years of formation.

THE CHURCH TRANSFORMATION TO AQUASI-PARISH

The Church was up-graded to Quasi-parish in 2002 and Rev. Fr. Fabian AbogaistEssienwas assigned as Parish Priestand Rev. Fr. Anthony Ochigbo the Assistant Priest.However, upon the death of Rev. Fr. Essien in 2006, Rev. Fr. William Ojukwu took charge of the Parish briefly.

TRANSFORMATION INTO A PARISH.

A letter of the Archbishop, John Onaiyekan, dated Tuesday, 2nd January, 2007, conferred on St. Agnes the full status of a parish and Rev. Fr. Aloy Achonwa was assigned as the first Parish Priest. The Assistant Priest wasRev. Fr. Benedict Ahamioje and followed after him was Rev. Fr. Nicholas Uwalaka.

REV. FR. ANTHONY ONYESO’SADMINISTRATIONOFTHE PARISH.

In 2012, Rev. Fr. Anthony Onyeso was posted as Parish Priest withRev. Fr. Louis Duniya as Assistant Priest andlater replaced by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Alao.

HARVEST-THANKSGIVING / BAZAARCELEBRATIONS

St. Agnes Catholic Church took-off close to the end of 1997, butthe members were desirous ofcelebratingharvest-thanksgiving / bazaar in keeping with theCatholictradition. So, IdimIta-Idimtook-off and organised an event in thesemblanceofHarvest-Thanksgiving/Bazaarcaptioned,“Family Celebration”.Although the celebration waspackagedin aninformalmanner, still, itmarked the Church’smaidenharvest-thanksgiving/bazaar.

In the succeeding years, however, theharvest-thanksgiving / bazaar was organized formallywith committeesheads as follows: FeliciaE.Alabi- 1998, Agnes Oseigbe - 1999, Agnes Odiri - 2000, IsidoreUdenko - 2001, Joseph N. Takon - 2002, Patrick Eze - 2003, Theresa Okolo - 2004, Dan Akogwu - 2005, Ben-Mary Ameh- 2006,UcheOnyenwuzor- 2007, Carmel Mary Idim - 2008, Emmanuel U. Ijeh - 2009, Pius Ogunjiofor - 2010, Philip Akinfemide - 2011, JohnboscoObialor - 2012 and2013, ChrisIdion - 2014, Emmanuel Nwamadi– 2015 and Margaret Agi 2016.