Mac-Iyalla, who is the Director of Changing Attitude of Nigeria (CAN), a group that claims to be made up of gays and lesbians in the Anglican Communion in Nigeria, has been campaigning for an end to the prejudice against homosexuals in the church.

Lately he has been identified in the country's media as the victimized homosexual who was chased out of the Anglican Church because of his sexual orientation.

The Church refuted the claim in the statement alleging that Mac-Iyalla, a former staffer of the Diocese of Otukpo till 2003, bolted with some large sums including salaries of workers.

While his homosexual orientation is not in doubt, the Church insists that the man still has a case to answer with the police in Otukpo over his alleged offences.

The disclaimer alleged that Mac-Iyalla had used the false notion of his supposed victimization in the Anglican Church to defraud unsuspecting victims.

Mac-Iyalla came to the limelight after a national daily published an interview last October on the subject of homosexuality in the Anglican Church.

He reportedly claimed that his group was made up of more than 2,000 gays, lesbians and bisexual people, who were seeking an end to the prejudice against homosexuals.

He criticized the recent campaign by the Primate of Church of Nigeria, the Most Rev. Peter Akinola, against acceptance of homosexual practice in the Church.

Last November, the group organized a controversial national convention which the organizations website claimed was attended by about 800 people.

But Mac-Iyalla and his group in a statement purportedly released at the end of the meeting warned the Anglican Church to "stop colluding with cultural repression and discrimination against lesbians, gays and bisexual people in all parts of the world."

Meanwhile, the Primate, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Archbishop Peter Akinola, has called for an end to all false claims of piety in the country.

In his New Year message entitled "Remove the Mask" Akinola said that Nigerians were wearing masks, referring to the pretence and deceit that has permeated every facet of the national life.

On religious leaders, he warned: "False prophets are called upon to remove their masks and stop the exploitation and manipulation of the gullible and unsuspecting members of their flock."

He said that religious leaders should learn to be good shepherd that feed their flock and not exploiters.

The Primate, who is also the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), did not spare the family when he declared that husbands and wives must remove the mask of unfaithfulness.

"As we enter the New Year husbands and wives should remove their masks of unfaithfulness and be true to their marital commitments," he said.

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