Top preacher, Olukoya, speaks on MFM land tussle

The General Overseer of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Daniel Olukoya, on Saturday insisted that the church is the legitimate owner of the land on which its headquarters is situated at Magboro, Ogun State.
Speaking during the December edition of the church’s monthly Power Must Change Hands programme at the popular Prayer City, Mr. Olukoya said the church has relevant documents to back its claim on ownership of the land.
“MFM is the rightful and legitimate owner of its prayer city located along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, Magboro, Ogun,” Mr. Olukoya said at the church’s event tagged “Receiving The Anointing of Fire”.
A High Court in Ogun State had ruled that the sprawling land on which the church, as well as its higher institution, Mountain Top University, is sitting on, rightfully belongs to the Adejonlu family.
The ruling, delivered last May, and recently obtained by SaharaReporters, declared the family as the genuine owners of the land.
But Mr. Olukoya said MFM bought the land in question twice: first from the land owners and also from the Ogun State Property and Investment Company (OPIC).
“MFM has been using this land for the past 18 years and has obtained the Certificate of Occupancy(C of O) from the Ogun State Government,” he said.
He urged MFM worshipping community both in Nigeria and abroad not to entertain any fears regarding the internet rumour making the rounds regarding the genuine ownership of the land.

‘Indifferent church’
After the court ruling in the legal battle that lasted 13 years, R. O Sadik, the Adejonlu family lawyer, wrote several letters to Mr. Odukoya for negotiation and settlement, according to SaharaReporters.
In one of the letters, the family listed their demands such as a measurement of the size of the land on which the Prayer City sits on and a payment of N5 million per plot and an immediate payment of 40 percent of the total cost of the acreage agreed upon.
Mr. Sadik told SaharaReporters that all his letters had been met with indifference by both the church and Mr. Olukoya, adding that the owners could decide to enforce the court’s decision and take full possession of the land.
“We have written to Dr. Olukoya over 10 times, and it is like he is not ready for settlement,” SaharaReporters quoted Mr. Sadik as saying.
“He set up a committee, which was headed by Pastor Alewi to look into the matter and our follow-up investigation shows that the report of the committee has got to Dr. Olukoya. But we have not heard any positive comment from him.
“In fact, his body language does not suggest he is ready to pay any money for the land belonging to my client.”
On Saturday, Mr. Olukoya maintained that the said land and all the properties on it – including the Prayer City and the university – belong to MFM.
He warned those claiming otherwise to desist from it, warning that, “It is dangerous to fight the MFM or its members”.