Community sues Redeemed Church, Adeboye over land dispute

Some residents of a community in Ogun State have dragged the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, its General Overseer, Enoch Adeboye, and 14 others to court for alleged encroachment on a piece of land.

The plaintiffs claim that the land, located in Ilara Village, Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State, belongs to them. Through their counsel, Kayode Akinsola, they filed a suit number HOS/130/15, dated August 10 at an Ogun High Court in Sagamu.

In documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the plaintiffs in the suit claim the land was sold to them by the Ilara Descendants family and receipts issued to about 150 buyers. They said they occupied the land for a while before the defendants arrived.

They said it was in April 2015 they noticed trespassers on their lands; and after inquiry they discovered the trespassers to be agents of the defendants. They said sometime in June 2015, they saw some men on their land using bulldozers to pull down their buildings. They said they discovered that the demolitions were carried out on the instruction of the Redeemed Church, one of Nigeria’s largest and richest churches.

In the suit, the claimants are demanding a declaration that they are the true owners of their respective land; an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents or privies from trespassing on the land; special damages of N100 million, among others.

The court has fixed September 3 for the hearing of the case.