By Yinka Ajayi

The Court of Appeal, Lagos, has reaffirmed the 2014 judgment of a Lagos High Court against the Deeper Christian Life Ministry in a land dispute with one Mr. Joseph Ebhodaghe, awarding  N5 million general damages against the church.

Ebhodaghe, who the Lagos High Court described as a cleric of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), instituted the case against the Registered Trustees of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry in 2005 over a piece of land located on Mulero Street, Off Oyewole Road, Mulero, Agege, Lagos.

With the two parties, laying claim to the land, tracing their titles to the Olalabi Sulu Family, Ebhodaghe had filed an action, asking the court to declare him the owner of the land,  award him N5 million as general damages against the church for the trespass on the land, order a perpetual injunction to restrain the church, its agents, servants and  privies from further trespassing on the land and such further orders as the court may deem fit.

After about nine years of trial, Justice S.B.A Candide – Johnson of the Lagos General Civil Division, Igbosere, Lagos, on January 17, 2014, granted all the reliefs sought by Ebhodaghe.  Dissatisfied  with the judgment, the Registered Trustees of Deeper Christian Life Ministry filed a Notice of Appeal, dated March 27, 2015 and filed on April 14, 2015, raising 10 grounds of appeal and six issues for determination. The church asked the Court of Appeal to determine whether its title was not superior to Ebhodaghe’s competing title in the face of the documentary and oral evidence adduced before the court by it.

The church also wanted the Court of Appeal to determine, among others, whether the award by the lower court of general damages of N5million for trespass, use and occupation of the land by it was not excessive without evidence to support the award.

After a  review of the briefs of both parties, the three-man panel of Chinwe Eugenia Iyizoba, Yargata Byenchit Nimpar and Abimbola Osarugue Obaseki-Adejumo of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Judicial Division, in their judgment, delivered on March 30, 2016 by Osarugue Obaseki-Adejumo, upheld the judgment of the lower court, declaring: “In the light of the foregoing, this appeal is unmeritorious and it is hereby dismissed. The judgment of Candide-Johnson J. of Lagos High Court delivered on 17th January 2014 is affirmed, cost is assessed at N50, 000.00 against the Appellant.”

An elated Superior Evangelist Joseph Ebhodaghe, Shepherd, CCC, Victory Land Parish, Oyewole/Mulero Road, Orile-Agege, Lagos, was full of praise for the judiciary for living up to its role as the last hope of the common man, thanking God for standing by him.

According to him, the Deeper Christian Life Ministry and its Registered Trustees had oppressed him for too long. “I have done everything possible to make peace with them but to no avail. After I got the first judgment from the Lagos High Court, I made several efforts to meet with them to resolve the issue peacefully, they snubbed me. I took the matter to the then Special Assistant to Governor Babatunde Fashola on Christian Affairs, Pastor Ogedegbe, asking him to intervene and make them to see reason to make peace. The SA wrote Pastor Kumuyi and his other Registered Trustee members, they didn’t respond. I followed up with several visits to the church’s programmes at Ayobo, worshiped and participated in all their programmes, thinking I could see Pastor Kumuyi after any of the programmes to draw his attention to the problem, I couldn’t. Then I went to their Gbagada headquarters, I could only meet with his Secretary, one Pastor Samuel Afape. I discussed with him and he took all the documents from me, promising to get in touch with me but never did, what followed was that they went to the Court of Appeal, but God has again given me victory over them,” he narrated.

The ex-soldier, who said he was in the Army for 18 years and in war front for two years, explained that he bought the land in 1973 from his retirement benefits and would never allow anybody to take it from him.

“If they come and they say they want the land, I will give them the price, once they pay; I will relinquish it to them, other than that, no way,” Ebhodaghe said.

Efforts made to get the Deeper Christian Life Ministry’s comment on the matter were futile.

Appeal Court material        28-04-16

Ebhodaghe pix          28-04-16