History of Parish

Prior to 1993 there was only one Mass centre in the whole of Kabba Township, which was Sacred Heart Catholic Church, until on the 6th of January 1993, when Rev. Fr. Lious Fowoyo the newly appointed Parish Priest of Kabba Catholic Church accelerated the move for the creation of new Parishes.

According to Him, the major factors that instigated his move were; (1) the aftermath of the Chieftaincy tussle in Kabba which had yet to unite the society together; (2) as a result of the expansion and growing population of the town, which made it strenuous for members of the Catholic Community to attend and be active within the only one existing Mass centre; (3) other Christian denominations with lesser members compared to the Catholic Church in Kabba had already established five to ten Churches scattered all over the town and finally, that they was an initial intention by the then Bishop to site another mass in Kabba town, but was never actualized by his predecessor.

Based on these factors, it was obvious that there was need to have at least two if not more Mass centers in the town. One serious obstacle for the abolition of one Mass centre was the need for the separated society to be united by clusters.

This was later attained not without the prayers and meaningful contributions of the faithful.

Following this findings, Lay Faithful from the streets of Odo-aofin, Owode, Odi-olowo, Kano Road, Waterworks and behind the Local Government Secretariat converged for a meeting in April 1993 with the Parish Priest to discuss the possibility of a Mass center and when to start. At the meeting, it was decided that a center be established, using Demonstration Primary School Kabba as a temporary site.

The symbolic name AYABA-ALAFIA (OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE) was given to the newly created Mass Centre because of the circumstances that surrounded the birth of the Mass centre. The Town and Church needed more than ever before Peace and we believed by the intercessions of Our Lady Queen of Peace, We will find refuge. Hence, the name OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE.

With this, the centre had her first Holy Mass on the 2nd of May 1993 on the open field of Demonstration Primary School Kabba.

The Mass centre continued to grow by the grace of God and the efforts of succeeding Parish Priests – from Rev. Fr. Louis Fowoyo who started the Mass centre and had to go for further studies to Rev. Fr. Michael Sasa and later to Late Rev. Fr. Jerome Bello. The Mass Center venue moved from Demonstration Primary School to Kabba/Bunu Maternity Premises. It was during the time of Late Rev. Fr. Jerome Bello, that the centre had her first Adult Thanksgiving Harvest. Soon, the maternity being the venue for the mass center became too small to accommodate the growing members of the church.

The Church and her members then began to work hard to secure any available land within the axis of odo-aofin. This effort became fruitful with the donation of the parcel of land where the Church now occupies opposite Nigerian Agricultural Co-operative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB) Kabba by the family of late Pa. Rowland through his Daughter Mrs. Caroline Olumudi Nee Rowland. We continue to pray to God to bless her and the family.

Late Rev. Fr. Dr. B.S Anikoh was in charge of the mass center until 1st July 2006 when the mass center was elevated to the status of a Parish with Rev. Fr. Joseph Tolorunsagba as the Pioneer Parish Priest. Towards the end of Rev. Fr. Joseph Tolorunsagba’s administration in the Parish, Rev. Fr. Wilfred Meseda was assigned as an Assistant Parish Priest and this status he still maintained during the time Rev. Fr. Casimir Okonkwo took over the Parish on 15th August, 2013. Rev. Fr. Wilfred Meseda was later transferred to St. Paul’s Aiyetoro as a Parish Priest, when St. Paul’s Aiyetoro was created a Parish.

Apart from Our Lady Queen of Peace Odo-aofin being a Mother Parish to St. Paul’s Aiyetoro, she currently maintains some numbers of Mass Centers and Outstations like ABU-Kabba, Aiyede as Mass Centers while Aduratedo and Ilogun are outstations etc.

Previous Priests