Jakayinfa said the church went on to write a petition to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Area 10, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, seeking to enforce their claim of the plot.
The Deeper Life Christian Ministries has been accused of using thugs and armed police to erect pillars on land it allegedly began plotting to grab in 2019.
Footage seen by SaharaReporters shows men clothed in police uniforms and a man wearing reflexive jackets surveying the land. Two vehicles: A security truck and a white articulated truck were seen in the background of the footage as well.
Before the fences were erected on July 13, the church placed an advertorial on July 8, saying the disputed land, which it had already built complete structures on, is situated in Olowotedo village, Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Contrary to this claim, a petition written by the Rule Of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), said the actual plot of land the church is laying claim to is a 31.599-acre virgin plot located in Maaba Town, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area Of Ogun State.
A representative of the two families that own the land – Jakayinfa and Ajisegeri, who chose to stay anonymous, said the Deeper Life intermediary behind the land-grabbing scheme, Franklyn Osezua, was intentionally misleading the public and the General Overseer of the church, William Kumuyi.
"The man (Osezua) is not a straightforward person," the family representative said. "He is misleading Pastor Kumuyi and the public, claiming that they bought the land we were fighting over in 1985. He said the property is in Olowotedo, but our property is in Maaba Town.
"The Bale of the community knows everybody that owns land in that area; they have now dragged him into the petitions." [story_link align="left"]82428[/story_link]
A statement by one of the families that claim ownership of the land, Akeem Jakayinfa, which was noted in RULAAC's complaint to the IGP, said Osezua appeared on the land in 2019 on behalf of the Deeper Life Ministry, with police officers, with the intent of taking over the land.
Jakayinfa said the church went on to write a petition to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Area 10, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, seeking to enforce their claim of the plot.
A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Funmi Eghuaje, was assigned to investigate the matter. According to him, she invited some members of the families, including the Bale, Chief Jimoh Akinrinola, for questioning.
After attending the first invitation, Jakayinfa said they wrote a counter-petition requesting that the case be transferred to the FCID annexe in Alagbon, Lagos State.
The family said they made a move because they did not see the reason why they should regularly travel to Abuja when the land in question is in Ogun State.
The family said they didn't hear again from DSP Eghuaje, while they waited for an invitation from FCID Annexe in Lagos.
After a year of silence, Deeper Life's accusers said they were served with a shocking invitation by the High Court on the premise of DSP Eghuaje's findings.
In an interview with SaharaReporters, Chief Akirinola, the Bale of Maaba Town, confirmed the claim's cited in RULAAC's petition. He said he was dragged into the dispute by Osezua through false charges.
"They wrote two petitions against me: one at Zone Two, Onikan in early September last year and another one at FCID Abuja in early October," the Baale said.
"They accused me of robbery and different things that don't pertain to me. They said I carry guns, cutlasses and dangerous weapons.
"They asked me a lot of questions. During all the days they mentioned, I told them where I was. I was mostly in meetings. I'm the Baale of this town. I don't do such things," he stated.
Akirinola, who has no claim in the land the Deeper Life is attempting to take control of, was joined by the Deeper Life in the suit it filed at the High Court in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
SaharaReporters reached out to one of the lawyers representing Deeper Life Christian Ministry, Ark-Stewart Itua.
Itua refused to respond to the allegations unless our reporter visited him at the church headquarters at Gbagada Lagos or sent an invite for a meeting at the site's office. When Franklyn Osezua was contacted, he made the same demand.