Matilda Omonaiye/
Residents and landlords of the Royal Garden Community Development Association at Aseese in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State have protested moves by the Believers Love World, otherwise known as Christ Embassy, to forcefully take over their land.
The residents took to the street recently with placards bearing various messages, protesting the church’s plans to demolish their houses, which had been earmarked for a car park.
Some of the protesters’ placards bore inscriptions as “Pastor Chris, Leave Our Community” “Chris Embassy Can’t invalidate out C of O” and “Do Not Preach By Using Caterpillars”. They called on the state government to come to their rescue
Our correspondent gathered that trouble started in 2019 when men allegedly acting on the orders of Christ Embassy marked almost half of the houses in the community for demolition, accusing the landlords of encroaching on their land. The community then sued the church before an Ogun State High Court in suit number AB/446/19 titled Hammed IKO and 85 others Vs Believers Love World, in 2019, but they neither appeared in court nor sent representatives.
NewsmakersNG learnt that the immediate past Chairman of Royal Garden CDA, Mr Akin Olaoye, the Baale of the community, one Mr Razaq Oladimeji, was the first person to own a property in the estate in 1999 before taking possession in 2000.
Olaoye explained that this was before Christ Embassy bought land from the Oloke and two other families in the year 2005, through an agent named Alhaji Tajudeen Ogooluwa (now deceased).
He said: “In 2013, the church tried to erect a gate at the entrance of our community but they were prevented by Omo Onile. They now met with the CDA then and we reached an agreement that every member of the community would have access to the gate.
“We also agreed on joint security personnel. They promised heaven and earth. We then wrote a letter to their headquarters and included our conditions. We took the letter to their headquarters but we were referred to their lawyer, Barrister Bisi Sogunle.
“They assured that everyone would have access to the gate and other conditions would be met. After the gate was erected, they approached us to name the road from the gate to the estate after the church. They went to the local government, but they were told to get a letter of consent from the community.
“We granted their request. Initially, our estate was known as Unity Estate, after we agreed to work together, we renamed it Christ Embassy/Unity Estate. They eventually got the letter of consent. One Engineer, Cole Adeyemi, was introduced to us by their lawyer as their representative. After the gate was erected and the road in question was named after Christ Embassy, we didn’t see him again.
“He would not even pick our phone calls. We were told he was posted to Edo State. Suddenly, in 2019, we saw some men marking our buildings for demolition. They said we had encroached into the church’s land. They marked half of our community for demolition. We thought it was a joke until they brought armed security personnel to harass us. We wrote a series of letters to their headquarters, but none was replied.”
“In October 2021, they stormed the community again, just like they did on January 26, 2022. Subsequently, they were coming with fully armed thugs. They were shooting sporadically into the air, causing panic and tension in the community.
“Most of the landowners in the Estate bought their land from Aseese. I also asked the Baale of Aseese about the matter and he said he did not sell land to companies and churches. When we got to the police station, the son of the late Alhaji Tajudeen Ogooluwa whose father was the agent that sold their land to them testified that the land Christ Embassy is claiming does not belong to the church. He believes that Pastor Chris Oyakhilome is not aware of the situation on the ground.
“We learnt that Christ Embassy paid heavily to the state government to collect C of O for the area, but before they could have it, they surveyed their land and ours using a drone to avoid a negative reaction from legal occupants of the land.”
Supporting the protesters’ position of landlords, the Baale of Aseese, Chief Jamiu Sonola said the 86 landlords bought their land from Adebefun and Dele Tuyo families, as against those who sold to Christ Embassy.
“The land in dispute has a boundary and even before anyone is issued certificate of occupancy over any land, he must produce a family receipt, but in respect of this land, family receipt was issued to the 86 landlords by five families, including that of Adebefun and Dele Toyo family,”
Speaking on behalf of the church, Barrister Chris Ebare said it was unfortunate that those whose houses got marked for demolition did not do proper investigations before erecting their structures on the land. He said the land belongs to the church and those remorseful had been promised that their case would be presented to the church.
“Christ Embassy bought land from families in Aseese. We bought it from the Dosunmu family. Even from another family. We bought it from three families. At the end of the day, the receipt of payment was issued by each family which we took to the Ogun State government.
“We surveyed the place. The Ogun State government came in, and after we paid all the ratification and other charges, the government issued Christ Embassy C of O. These people went to build their houses without investigation on the land owned by Christ Embassy. Anybody can say Christ Embassy met them. That is not the issue. When there are two equities, the first in time prevails. So, that is the side of us. That is the crux of the matter. If anyone is saying they doubt us, let them bring their papers.
“You will go into dialogue when you have committed an offence. We meet with families in Maba. We live peacefully with the people in Gideon Estate. All these people you’re talking about-Christ Embassy/Unity Estate- I don’t know them,” Ebare said.
Asked to respond to the allegation that Christ Embassy Church refused to appear in court when landlords sought redress in 2019 to prove ownership, Barrister Ebare said he was not aware the church was taken to court, adding that the community ought to have approached the relevant government ministries to verify the claims of the church instead.
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