Police threatened to shoot me overland matter-General Overseer

 The General Overseer of Open Channel Bible Church, Gowon Estate, Egbeda, Lagos State, has accused some policemen of threatening to shoot him over a land issue that was already in court.

Pastor Darlington Ajitemisan said he was shocked on Tuesday last week to see one Mr. Olufade, who had been trying to encroach on Federal Government land, where many churches and homes were located, arrived with over 19 armed policemen and thugs.

According to Ajitemisan, part of his shock stemmed from the fact that Olufade had already erected a fence around the disputed property within three days, unmindful that the case was still in court.

He said he had challenged Olufade who came in company of policemen from Gowon Estate Police Station.

He said that he was pounced upon and attacked by the man’s thugs, who almost knocked out his teeth. The armed policemen had also threatened to shoot him, for daring to confront such number of armed men and Olufade.

A few hours after his attack by the thugs and threat that he would not live long; he woke up around 2:30am, to smell petrol in his church. The church is attached to his sleeping quarters. The church was on fire.

He said: “I don’t believe that I can still be alive because of the incident. I saw what Olufade was doing as a kind of oppression. He wanted to take over land that belongs to the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). I believe Olufade was deceived by some men who sold the land to him.

“I told him churches are here. I went to FHA at Festac, where I met Mr. Hector. He is the Planning Supervisor of FHA. He said FHA didn’t sell any land. The Planning Supervisor came and gave Olufade three documents to sign. The documents include stoppage, contravention notice and order for Olufade to remove his structure from the site. Olufade started threatening me. He came with some thugs and Policemen from Gowon Estate, along with a Chief Superintendent of Police called, Odion.”  

Ajitemisan noted that since he started battling Olufade, he had been attacked several times, adding that the last attack and the setting ablaze of his church on Wednesday around 2:30am, was more than he could take. He said he had expected the DPO of Gowon Estate to make some arrest after attack on him and his church.

He said: “But up till now, the police have done nothing! My teeth are shaking after the thugs attacked me. Olufade hired over 19 policemen, who came with guns. They threatened my life. He had paid and told them that I was the most troublesome person. They said I would not see the next day. I resisted the building. It was the smell of petrol that woke me around 2:30am. They burnt my window, break in through the window, gathered chairs together and set them on fire. They burnt anywhere they could. I heard people from other churches around shouting and calling my name. I saw fire everywhere. Fire fighters were called, but before their arrival, the fire had been put out with water and detergent.”