The highly revered Nigerian pastor,
Daniel Kolawole Olukoya, may soon lose his prayer city as new travails
breezes over the church.
Pastor Daniel Kolawole Olukoya, the
Founder and General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries
(MFM), may be on the verge of losing the vast land on which MFM Prayer
City sits.
According to SaharaReporters, a court
ruling delivered on 12 May by Justice A.A Akinyemi of the Abeokuta
Division of the High Court of Ogun State stated that the Adejonlu family
are the bona fide owners of the land on which the famous crusade and
camp ground sits in the Ogun State section along the Lagos/Ibadan
Expressway.
This implies that Mr. Olukoya's church
had bought the land from, and paid, the wrong people. Ownership dispute
over the the land began in 2003 and took the form of litigation via two
different cases (Suit Nos. AB/60/2003 and AB/61/2003) between the
Adejonlu and Oduleye families.
Justice Akinyemi's ruling, exclusively
obtained by SaharaReporters, declared the Adejonlu family genuine owners
of the land situated in Magada, Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area,
and that they are entitled to the right of occupancy over the land.
Following the ruling handing ownership
and right of occupancy to the Adejonlu family, their lawyer, Mr. R. O.
Sadik, told SaharaReporters that he wrote many letters to Mr. Olukoya
for negotiation and settlement. Mr. Sadik said he took the steps because
of the profile of the pastor and his church.
One of the letters was dated 7 July and
signed by one Miss Lateefa Sadik for Mr. Sadik's chambers. The letter
recalled a meeting held between the legal firm and MFM representatives
led by one Pastor Alewi.
The letter then proceeded with demands
by the land owners. Notably, the landowners requested the church,
assisted by their lawyers, to determine the size and portion of their
land on which MFM Prayer City sits. The letter also demanded a payment
of N5million per plot to cover the acreage that would be agreed on by
the land owners and the church. Similarly, the letter demanded the
immediate payment of 40 per cent of the total cost of the acreage agreed
upon.
But these demands, Mr. Sadik told
SaharaReporters, have been met with indifference. According to him, Mr.
Olukoya is unwilling to negotiate with the landowners. He, however,
warned that the owners are keen on enforcing the court ruling and taking
full possession of the land.
"We have written to Dr. Olukoya over
10 times, and it is like he is not ready for settlement. He set up a
committee, which was headed by Pastor Alewi, to look into the matter and
our follow-up investigation shows that the report of the committee has
got to Dr. Olukoya. But we have not heard any positive comment from him.
In fact, his body language does not suggest he is ready to pay any
money for the land belonging to my client," Mr. Sadik said.
He explained that he met with representatives of the church on 8 October, but Mr. Olukoya was not at the meeting.
"Presently, we are the practical
owners of the land, according to the judgment delivered by the Court,
but the pastor is unlawfully and illegally using it and selling part of
it thereby making money off us while we are not getting anything," alleged Mr. Sadik.
Another party to the matter, Chief
Gbolahan Timson (Oba Jagunmolu of Shomolu/Bariga), said he was
disappointed by Mr. Olukoya's conduct all through the time of
litigation. He also claimed that Mr. Olukoya went back on his promise
and his failure to act is affecting the family members.
"The Oduleye family were so greedy,
and they were bent on taking over our land. For this reason, they went
ahead sue us. We were served the court letter right in the office of Dr.
Olukoya, and he said good luck to the winner and that he would settle
whoever won the case. He made that statement when the case started 13
years ago. Now that we have won, he decided not to pay us. We explained
to him that he paid the wrong party and he should pay our family who are
the real owners of the land but he has refused," he said.
He added that Mr. Olukoya is saddened
that he may have to pay more for the land. According to Chief Timson,
the landowners gave a figure to the church. After receipt of the sum
demanded, the General Overseer is not happy with us winning as he is
going set up a committee to look into the case, but the committee came
up with a much lower sum.
"From the information I got, he
wanted to pay the money twice. But now, he is saying he is not paying us
any money. I want to get people to talk to him so as to avoid
unnecessary rancor like what is happening now. We cannot fight a battle
for 13 years and still be begging for our right after winning. The court
has declared us winner and the order of the court must be obeyed no
matter who you are and what you do for a living," he said.
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