St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Ebute Metta, Lagos - The first outpost of the Roman Catholic Church

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St Paul’s Ebute Metta, Lagos. September 23rd, 1934.


St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Lagos Main Land was the first outpost of the Roman Catholic Church outside the Holy Cross Cathedral which enjoyed a pride of place as the first point of settlement for the Roman Catholic Church to cater for the spiritual needs of the returnees from Brazil, other Latino American countries and the Caribbean Island in the mid-19th century.

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Initially the church’s influence was restricted to Lagos Island. Much of the Mainland was thinly populated by the Ijebus until some Egbas, who were forced to seek safety from the Kiriji war (1877-1893) came from Onigbongbo where their farmland was and settled as well. Consequently, Governor Clifford ceded part of Ebute-Metta (Ago-Egba) to the Egbas for protection. Ebute Metta was thus made of Ebute Iddo, Ebute Otto and Oko Baba (Ago-Egba) From Lagos Island at Opopo (popo) Aguda, the Roman Catholic Missionaries sought to win converts across the Lagos lagoon on the Mainland. This Evangelization must have started from 1890 under Bishop O’Rourke with outstation services, later Masses in the homes of the early converts. By 1895, the Church acquired the present location of St.Paul’s Catholic Church from the De Souza family. In addition to the church’s building, St. Paul’s primary school for boys and Mount Carmel girls school were built from 1894-1898.

After the World War 1, automobile transport multiplied slowly. In August 1926, Bishop Ferdinand Terren arrived at St Paul’s in his own automobile, the first Catholic Missionary in Nigeria to own one. St Paul’s under Archbishop Leo Hale Taylor became a launching pad for evangelization in Nigeria. It was from St. Paul’s that St. Patrick’s (now St. Dominic’s)was established in the 1920’s on a land donated by Pa Hooper, the goldsmith of Yaba. It was also through St. Paul’s that St. Michael’s was formed and managed by the late Monsignor Oni in 1945.

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