Anglican church mourns passing of Archbishop Anikwenwa

The Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion has been thrown into mourning, following the death of its former Dean, Archbishop Maxwell Anikwenwa.

Anikwenwa’s death was announced in a press statement issued by the Secretary General of the Church of Nigeria, Bishop Anthony Poggo, on Monday.

According to the statement, Archbishop Anikwenwa passed on Monday, March 13, after “years of meritorious and faithful service to God and humanity”.

The statement states that the Most Rev’d Maxwell Anikwenwa was called to glory on Monday, March 13, 2023.

Archbishop Anikwenwa was the former Archbishop of Province II and the Retired Bishop of Awka Diocese, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).

The statement partly reads, “May God comfort his family, the Diocese of Awka, Province of the Niger and the Church of Nigeria as a whole and grant him eternal rest.”

Archbishop Anikwenwa died at the age of 83.

The late Anglican prelate, who was born in Anambra State in 1940, was educated at Trinity Theological College, Umuahia.

He was ordained Deacon in 1964 and Priest in December 1966. He served in Onitsha and Freetown. He was appointed the first Bishop of Awka in 1987. He was made Archbishop of the Niger in 2000.

He was also Dean of the Church of Nigeria.

Anikwenwa retired as Bishop of Awka, Archbishop of the Niger and Dean of the Church on 22 November 2010.

Also reacting, the Archbishop Province of the Niger, and Bishop Anglican Diocese of Awka , Most Reverend Alexander Chibuzo Ibezim PhD, said the death has thrown the entire Diocese into mourning.

Archbishop Ibezim noted that the Christendom lost a hero of the gospel of ecumenism and evangelism without sorrow in this part of the world.

He emphasised that the late Anikwenwa’s legacies in the Church of Christ in general and the Anglican Church in particular cannot be dismissed by any, even as he prayed God to grant his soul eternal repose in His bosom.

Archbishop Ibezim lamented that Anglicans worldwide and Anambra State in particular lost a Christian father.

According to a press statement by the Director, Media and Communication, Province on the Niger and Diocese of Awka Anglican communion, Comrade Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, PhD on behalf of Archbishop Ibezim, the late Archbishop Anikwenwa voted in the last presidential elections.