ANAMBRA State’s continual hesitation to hand over Bishop Crowther Memorial Primary School to the Anglican Communion is raising friction between the church and its Catholic counterpart in the region.

However, the delay in handing over the school is being linked to the dispute over its ownership, as it is located beside the Catholic Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha.

The Archbishop of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province, His Grace, Most Rev. Val Okeke, had in 2008 written the then Bishop of the Niger Province, Anglican Communion, Ken Sandy Okeke, on why the Catholic Church was averse to having Anglicans fellowship within the school, as it was against the norm for a different faith to be sited near a Basilica.

But The Guardian learnt recently that the signboard bearing the Bishop Crowther name was pulled down by unknown persons and replaced with another name. Also, it was discovered that about 300 other schools owned by other churches and communities had been handed over to the Catholic Church.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nnamdi Udechukwu, a member of Governor Peter Obi’s reconciliation committee, headed by a distinguished retired chief judge of the state, Justice Goodwin Ononiba, alleged that the committee submitted its report without input from other members.

Nevertheless, the Commissioner for Education, Dr. Uju Okeke, told journalists that she was aware of the Bishop Crowther issue and would immediately bring it to the notice of the governor.