The United Bank for Africa Co-
operative Multipurpose Society
Limited has commenced a
contempt proceeding against the
Registered Trustees of the
Redeemed Christian Church of God
for allegedly disobeying an order of
the court.
The cooperative society, on
Tuesday, served the RCCG trustees
with Form 48.
Form 48 is served on any party, who
fails to obey an order given by a
court of law. If found guilty of
treating the court with contempt,
such an individual or group is liable
to being committed to jail.
Listed as the alleged contemnors,
who risk being jailed, are Pastor
Peter Adeyemi, Pastor Akanni
Babawande, Chief Babatunde
Ojelade and others.
The UBA cooperative society had
sued the Registered Trustees of
RCCG, alleging unlawful invasion of
its land with Survey Plan No.
OG/854/2013/60.
The land, measuring about 30 acres,
is located at Ewu Odofin Village in
the Sagamu Local Government Area
of Ogun State.
The UBA cooperative society had,
on April 1, 2015, secured an order of
interim injuction from an Ogun
State High Court in Sagamu,
stopping every form of construction
on the said land under dispute.
The presiding judge, Justice E.O.
Osinuga, had restrained the RCCG
trustees from further going ahead
with their ongoing project on the
land till the issues in the lawsuit,
marked HCS/01/2015, would be
resolved.
Lawyer for the cooperative society,
Mr. Yemi Omodele, however,
claimed that in defiance to the
order of the court, the defendants
had continued to build on the land.
In its statement, the cooperative
society claimed to have purchased
the said land from the Olowoto-
Olisa chieftaincy family of Ewu-
Odofin Village, pursuant to a deed
of assignment dated December 12,
2014.
It, however, alleged that agents of
the defendant, sometime last year,
unlawfully invaded the site and
demolished, among other things,
the perimeter fence, security
house, 10 buildings under
construction, three boreholes, and
water tanks, all estimated at
N30.6m, belonging to members of
the cooperative society.
In its papers before the court, the
claimant said it was not aware of
any existing dispute over the land
before purchasing it last year,
adding that a preliminary check it
conducted at the Ogun State Lands
Registry in Abeokuta, before
making payment, showed that the
land belonged to the Olowoto-
Olisa chieftaincy family.
The claimant’s lawyer, Omodele, is
contending that the alleged
demolition of his clients’ property
was unlawful and done in bad faith
and asked the court to declare
same as illegal and
unconstitutional.
He had sought a declaration of the
court that his client was the
legitimate owner of the land.
The claimant further sought an
order of the court compelling the
defendant to restore the
demolished property and pay
damages in the sum of N150m.
While making the interlocutory
injunction, restraining RCCG from
going ahead with any construction
work on the land, the judge,
Osinuga, noted that though the
church was served with all the
court papers, it however failed to
respond or enter any appearance in
court.
But the court said it would not go
into the merit of the case.
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
