The leadership of Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries has debunked claims that it framed up ex-members of the church identified as Femi Jimoh and Caleb Oloruntele, over an alleged planned armed attack against the church.
This is as the three individuals who testified against the former members in court over the alleged act narrated how the two approached them to solicit their assistance on how to hire a gun to rob the “first fruits” offering of the church in the year 2008.
The individuals identified as Akeem Omojomolo, Tajudeen Usein and Fatai Adebayo revealed how they played along in the plot, leading to their arrest.
Addressing the press on Friday, the church’s chief legal adviser, Davidson Adejuwon, said the two had created some misconceptions among some members of the public.
He added that their claims of being locked up in jail for nine years for an offence they did not commit was false, mischievous and cruel.
He said, “Let me quickly and briefly address some of the lies being told to the public on this issue which has created some misconceptions among a section of the public. One of them is that MFM as a Church and its general overseer, Dr Daniel Olukoya, have no forgiving spirit. Mr Femi Jimoh is a perfect case study to prove that MFM as a church and its general overseer are unrepentant forgivers.
“While at this ministry, he serially (more than three instances) got himself involved in one offence or the other at every branch he was posted to serve. He was being redeployed back to the headquarters here for internal discipline after which he would be posted out believing he had changed.”
Adejuwon further explained that the general overseer did not keep them in jail for nine years despite the plea from Jimoh’s mother.
He added that they were granted bail but failed to perfect their bail conditions.
He said, “All that was expected of Mr Jimoh, his mother and relatives, as well as Caleb and his relatives, was to get credible sureties to meet the bail condition, which does not include payment of any sum as being misunderstood by the majority of people who are not lawyers.
“Is it not curious to push a narrative that Dr Olukoya, the general overseer locked them up when all members of their family refused to get two individuals for nine years to stand as their sureties for them to be released? Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) is a responsible church that takes the welfare, safety and security of all its members very seriously.
“As such, a case of planned armed attack on credible intelligence against the church, which could have led to the death of any member, is not one that can be treated and handled internally by the church. We have a duty to report such to the law enforcement agency saddled with the responsibility to investigate and deal with such issues. And that was exactly what we did as a responsible church.”
Adejuwon remarked that all other events that transpired thereafter at the police station and during the trial were completely out of the control of the church because being a criminal matter, it became a case between the state and the defendants.
Reacting to claims that the arrest followed Jimoh’s contact with the then chief security officer of the church, Olawale Gbadamosi, at a herbalist’s place at Ogbomosho in Oyo State, Adejuwon said; “It is absurd to imagine that a church a big as MFM will go so low to frame up two of its pastors just because of claim (which is false) that a CSO of the church was seen in a herbalist’s house.”
Gbadamosi, who was present at the briefing, described the claim as untrue, adding, “I want to say before man and God that I have never set foot there to see any herbalist.”
One of the three individuals, Akeem Omojomolo, narrated how Jimoh and Caleb allegedly approached him about the operation and said they planned to execute it in February.
Omojomolo also explained how they allegedly planned to trail the offering from the campground to the headquarters before striking.
He said, “He approached me and said he had a job he wanted me to be part of. He thereafter took me to a bar where he told me that it was MFM’s job and it had to do with their offering money. I asked if he had told anyone and he did not except someone called Aboki.
“Since I know the Aboki, I later called him and asked how he knew Femi and he said he approached and said they wanted to rob the mountain of fire and that the operation will be carried out in February when the offering will be brought from the camp to the headquarters. I and Aboki decided to inform the police and we were advised to play along.
“When we got there we said a lot of things. We asked him who was going to finance and he said Pastor Caleb. He said he had someone called Henry who was also a cultist. He said Pastor Caleb was in Mowe Ibafo. We went to meet Pastor Caleb and I asked when he would be available to come to Iwaya so that we could meet but they did not know we were with the police. When he came to Iwaya, I called Aboki and involved another colleague Orji to explain to them.”
On his part, Fatai Adebayo, otherwise known as Aboki, narrated how they played along and facilitated how police arrested them.
He said, “He approached and informed me about the deal and that it involved millions of naira, including dollars and cheques. When Akeem returned from Mowe where Caleb lives, we told the police again that we had met another accomplice. It was after then that we met a member of the church popularly known as Omo IyaNiyi who took us to the father of the GO’s wife in Surulere.
“The elderly man gave us a recording device and during our next meeting, Pastor Caleb and one Henry were also introduced to us as the ones who will sketch the plan were present. That day they gave me 16,400 to rent bullets.
“ The next meeting was scheduled to be held in the morning and we planned with the police to arrest all of us once it is 9 am. On the day of the meeting, Jimoh was present but we were waiting for Caleb. Caleb did not arrive until the police came in, rounded us up and took us to the station. That was where he confessed.”
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