The Redeemed Christian Church of God may be heading towards serious dispute with nine villages that have written petitions to international organisations, media houses, corporate organisations and the court of Nigeria over the seizure of their land by the church in a bid to build the biggest church auditorium in the world.

The will to build this auditorium has so far resulted in 16 villagers' deaths and numerous catastrophes to the villagers who are now being told to evacuate the area.





Over 300 families living at Agunforye, Ososanya, Isaga Kekere, Isaga Nla, Ebute Agbara, Pagbo, Igbonla Adeleye, Igbonla Akinremi and Olaparun villages in Makun area of Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State are complaining heavily in a statement signed by various representatives of the communities.

Within the statement, Oladele Benjamin Adisa, speaking on behalf of the villages, said: "The affected families are the 3rd, 4th and 5th generations of the earliest settlers in the nine villages over 200 years ago on the vast land purportedly acquired by the church, which owned by Otetumo Agbabo Shoole Agufon and Ososanya families of Itunmeko area in Ikorodu, Lagos State, with Pastor Amos Oshin and Chief Sikiru Ososanya as the heads of the two families respectively."

Mr. Adisa continued saying: "People representing the Redeemed Christian Church of God recklessly demolished and destroyed markets and stalls in front of the Local Government School Agunfoye–Remo. The old and new buildings at Zion African Church, Agunfoye set up in 1925 by the earliest settlers, cemeteries and all graves in the nine villages were also demolished."

He also stated that he could not take pictures of the demolition because policemen and security operatives that accompanied the church were shooting into the air to scare off the villagers.
Adisa explained further that in a suit filed in Court 3 Sagamu HCS/105/14 by the said land owners against the church, it noted that the church have exceeded the acquisition of 1,900 acres sold to them. In his words: "It was however noticed that the church has already exceeded the boundaries sold to them to almost 4,000 acres. Immediately this was noticed, the church went in for the kill the next day, demolishing properties, cash and food crops which are the principal source of income for the villagers. We lost everything. We just want them to stick to the initial 1,900 acres. Now, come to think of it, the only public primary school in the community, known as Local Government Primary School Agunfoye Remo was demolished, thus denying the children in the nine villages the opportunity to attend school for the 2014/15 academic year. This unfortunate situation was reported to the Ogun State Governor, Commissioner for Education and State Primary Education Board in Abeokuta. It is illegal for a church to displace the nine villages in a reckless manner. The only road that links the nine villages with Simawa-Sagamu has been blocked. The blockage has entrapped the entire village".

He added that "they started constructing a road that leads to the auditorium and erected a signboard at the entrance of the road on which a bold inscription, ‘PRIVATE ROAD, NO TRESPASS’, was written showing that the villagers have no free access to their various houses.”
Journalists who visited the communities say that there was no access road to the villages. In order to get to most of the village, one would have to find his/her way through the construction site.
Adisa, while conducting journalists round the villages, affirmed that "the electric cables, poles and transformers that supplied electricity to the nine villages were dismantled and taken away, leaving the area in darkness."

RCCG also destroyed some the cultural antiquities of the villages. Adisa said: "Traditional shrines in the nine villages namely Igboro known as Igboti; Ogun Ajobo known as Ijasi Ilu, Oju Iroko, Oju Oluweri, Irele Awopa, Igbodu Ifa and Kuso known as Igunnuba were demolished amidst gun-wielding policemen and touts from the church."

Affected villagers such as Soyinka Albert Ola, Ajibode Oluniyi, Taiwo Alan Ogunleye, Ayinde Kamorudeen, Wasiu Ogunleye, Ganiyu Karimu, Adekunle Akibu and Adekunle Adegbola, said they had been living peacefully before the annexation of their communities.

People in the village say that since June this year, 16 of the villagers have died due to starvation since their principal source of income had been ruined while many are sick due to hunger and starvation as they cannot get out of the village.

According to one of the villagers, “it should interest you to know that since the last six months, agents and representatives of the church have been coming to the nine villages with police officers in mulfti carrying guns and using vehicles without plate numbers to terrorise the villagers to vacate the land, promising to expel everyone the next time they come here. And we are not sure what will happen to the rest of us. We are appealing to everyone to come to our aid and ask the church to stick to their 1,900 acres.”


All efforts to speak to the church leadership failed at the time of filing this report.



http://www..net/2015/07/photos-rccg-destroys-over-300-villagers.html

cc lalasticlala

Tired lets thee below me do d talkn


As i rush to d latrine to sip a stolen zobo

Ok They must have negotiated with the land owners

Ghen Ghen...

Men of God................

To worship God or make more money?

Worshiping God is now a competition in Nigeria

You must build the largest place on worship before prayers will be answered

Gullible Nigerians are scammed.

Ain't redeem camp big enough?

The church is marching on the gate of hell shall not prevail.

If the land is legally theirs then no cause for alarm....you cant stop a land owner fron developing his land

Building the biggest church and most beautiful church in the whole world has no meaning to God. What matters to him is how many souls that you win for Him on the last day. So churches should stop all these rubbish I want my church building to be most beautiful and the biggest. We the human beings are the church how beautiful are we before God is what matters.

I don't believe this.... RCCG can't do such..... Daddy GO won't condone such.....

tomsniel:
The church is marching on the gate of hell shall not prevail.

So, the villagers that were rendered homeless are your 'gate of hell'?

If the church has nothing to fear, why come with security agencies to harass harmless villagers Why shooting?

The church should do what is right and compensate the affected villagers accordingly.

twoMcfemad:


So, the villagers that were rendered homeless are your 'gate of hell'?

If the church has nothing to fear, why come with security agencies to harass harmless villagers Why shooting?

The church should do what is right and compensate the affected villagers accordingly.

Guy relax... I was just being sarcastic. BTW you should know that there are always 2 sides to a story. Let the church release their own side of the story before you put them to the sword.

Fake news,its not 300 its 100million homes

If it's a mosque it will a hub of insults

Where are the Nigerian pastors getting huge money from in this 21st century? Many of them are billionaires while most of their church members are poor and suffering. Pastors of those days only work hard for God and not for their pockets,they only cruise around in a car and don't wear expensive tuxedos.
Yet the broke church members would diss you if you try to say the truth about their pastor,they'd be like "so,he shouldn't live big because he's a pastor?" but seriously,how do you want to approach a pastor you call your own is he's a billionaire with securities around him? Is every church member not entitled to be able able to see his/her pastor one on one? But church members have now placed them on the seat where they can't even approach them.

Starships4u:
I don't believe this.... RCCG can't do such..... Daddy GO won't condone such.....

Shut up

I'm coming back

I want to hear the response of the church,before i comment.

WHEN THEIR FATHERS WERE BUSY SELLING THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS .. THEY DID NOTHING TO STOP THEM .. WHEN HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS WERE PAID TO THESE PEOPLE AND THEIR FAMILY HEADS WE DID NOT HEAR MEDIA CRAP.. NOW ITS TIME TO TAKE POSSESSION THEY ARE CRYING FOWL....WHO IS TO BLAME ... U CANT SELL YOUR LAND AND LIVE IN IT NAA.. LEAVE RELIGION ASIDE THIS IS PURE BUSINESS ...WE KNOW THE ANTECEDENTS OF THESE PEOPLE.. YOU BUY FROM THEM AND THEN THEY STILL WANT YOU TO PAY OTHER DUES..


STORY FOR THE GODS...

CUM4WHAT:
Tired lets thee below me do d talkn


As i rush to d latrine to sip a stolen zobo

This happens when bush and local people has MB to access from a Nokia phone nairaland and post rubbish

i wud like to understnd d objectiv fr this action.

hit guiness bor as avin world largest auditorium or avin a larger avenue fr worship. To me i think non is worth it, lives av been lost nd more wud stil b lost cus its obvious d villagers aint gonna fold arms while der land is taken frm dem

grace nd peace to all men

Singing ....1...2...3...go When we walk with the lord

Its unfortunate that Pastors of nowadays don't think about the plight of the people anymore, All they think of is how to upgrade themselves (including their churches) without caring whose ox is gored..Redeemed,Living faith,Chosen,Christ embassy,Dayspring,House on d rock and so on all have same target or goal..and it is "MAKING MONEY TO THE FULLEST"
May God help the gullible ones.

Only if they can show their approved plans. That's what happens when you build illegally on lands that aren't yours simply because it iڪ fallow

What is the point? Why not use the money to build a factory that will keep people employed. Churches are losing their sights

I live in this area they are talking about. Its a big lie. RCCG even repaired the main road leading from Lotto to Simawa and even offered to build the road from Simawa to Mosimi but the "elders" requested that they pay N5m to them before they can start work.

That area used to be the farmland of the indigenes but they are busy selling off their farm land to estate developers. Over 400acres have been sold off. Those guys are just pathetic. If not for RCCG no one would have known about that area.

The present generation of the indigenes are short sighted and really money hungry. Imagine selling of over 400acres of cocoa and kolanut farms so they can have money to sleep with women and drink ogogoro.

I don't blame redeemed. They saw an opportunity and took it

VANITY UPON VANITY,!!!
WHEN MONEY MEANT FOR THE WORK OF THE ALMIGHTY IS DIVERTED TO WHITE ELEPHANT PROJECT
WHAT WILL THIS PROFIT THE BODY OF CHRIST.
-WHEN MANY PAIRISHES IN RCCG ARE LOOKING FOR MONEY TO PAY RENT OR BUY JUST ENOUGH LAND SPACE FOR IT'S CONGREGATION.
-WHEN CHRISTIAN MAKE A LOT OF SACRIFICE TO PAY TITHES AND OFFERINGS. THE BENEFICIARIES FOR WHICH TITHE IS PAID (WIDOW, ORPHANS, LEVI & NEEDY ) ARE NEGLECTED.
-WHEN MANY PASTORS OF LOCAL PARISHES ARE KILLING THEMSELVES TO SUSTAIN THEIR PARISHES - VIRTUALLY ALL THE CONTRIBUTION IS REMITTED TO THE CENTRE.

WE HAVE A BIG NATIONAL CRISES, BOKO HARAM RESULTING IN SEVERAL INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
THE CHURCH (INCLUDING RCCG) IS YET TO COME UP WITH ANY PLAN EVEN TO ALLEVIATE THE SUFFERINGS OF FELLOW CHRISTIANS.

IT IS VERY OBVIOUS, MOST CHURCHES OF TODAY PARTICULARLY IN NIGERIA ARE ONLY INTEREST IN SWELLING THEIR POCKET WITH NOTHING IN RETURN TO THE PARISHONERS.

THIS IS VERY SAD AND PATHETIC.

imsuboi:

Shut up

yes sir