RCCG seeks IG’s help over land

Posted by: Uyoatta Eshiet in News 8 hours ago

The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to avert a crisis at Oloke-Asese-Maba and Gideon villages in Ogun State, over the demolition of its structure by land grabbers.
Hoodlums, armed with dangerous weapons and purportedly acting on the instructions of a church, on March 19, were said to have invaded the villages in a Volvo car and Toyota Hiace bus, destroying the headquarters of Ogun Province 8 of the RCCG, which is under construction.
The guard at the site said the hoodlums told him to steer clear because the land belonged to a church, which they were working for. “The thugs threatened to kill me or anybody who stood in their way and boasted that nothing would happen because, according to them, they and the police have been ‘heavily settled’ to look the other way”.
In its petition to the IGP, the RCCG urged him to intervene before the matter got out of hand.
The RCCG claimed that it has a Certificate of Occupancy numbered 025748, dated November 7, 2006 issued by the Ogun State government.
Wondering why another church was trespassing on the land, RCCG in 2004, sought to settle the matter amicably with the presiding pastor of the other church.
In a letter, signed by the Assistant General Overseer (AGO), Admin/Personnel of the RCCG, Pastor A. O. Akindele, the church wrote: “It has come to our notice that your organisation is inadvertently trespassing on the piece of land measuring about 40 acres on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, precisely at Oloke Area. We wish to inform you that this parcel of land belongs to the RCCG and we have been on the land for more than four years.
“We shall appreciate your prompt intervention and Godly directive to one Alhaji who has held himself out as your agent, to desist forthwith from continuing with the trespass”.
The RCCG, he said, also sought the help of the Ogun State government which invited both parties in an attempt at settling the dispute.
At a meeting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, the government said the RCCG, which has the Certificate of Occupancy, is the rightful owner of the land. The meeting also warned the alleged trespasser-church to leave the land.
Despite this resolution, the said church and its agents allegedly demolished the RCCG’s structure on the land.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/rccg-seeks-igs-help-over-land/

Where are PFN and CAN when you need them? Surely both organisations belong to at least one of these bodies?