It is almost looking like one of the biggest auditorium of the Redeemed Christian Church Of God, which is said to be ready for operation isn’t done yet for any kind of operation as there are a lot of controversies attached to the building. Controversies ranging from the government to the populace of the vicinity where the building is located. Redeem Christian church of God might not be able to perform all its sessions for the 2015 convention at the under- construction building.
Pastor E.A Adeboye the convener of the event is expecting delegates from, at least, 188 nations of the world in addition to local and foreign gospel ministers. Presently all hotels and hostels in adjoining communities around the Redemption Camp of the Redeemed Church of God onLagos-Ibadan Express-way have been fully booked for the next one week as thousands of Christian worshippers have started arriving the ever expanding City for the church’s 63rd annual convention which opens tomorrow with the ordination of deacons and deaconesses.
The Church confirmed over 12 million persons all over the world is expected to attend the Convention for Christian faithfuls. Adequate arrangements have also been put in place to host participants from the 24 regions of the church spread across 188 countries of the world.
However the final completion of the auditorium is still under threat as villagers whose land the church wanted to build the edifice is protesting the encroachment of their land and alleged destruction of their properties worth billions by the church. About nine villages and over 300 families have taken a stand against the construction going on there. They alleged that the church went beyond the 1900 acres of land acquired. According to them, the church is working on about 4000 acres of land which implies that they took over 2100 acres of land illegitimately.
The villagers also claimed the church authorities recklessly demolished properties of the nine villages illegally. According to them, they implemented this through the use of security operatives which rendered them powerless to resist the destruction.
The affected villages are listed as Agunfoye, Ososanya, Isaga Kekere, Isaga Nla, Ebute Agbara, Pagbo, Igbonla Adeleye, Igbonla Akinremi and Olaparun villages in Makun area of Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The villagers insist they have lost everything, “We just want them to stick to the initial 1,900 acres. Now, come to think of it, the only public primary school in the community, known as Local Government Primary School Agunfoye Remo was demolished, thus denying the children in the nine villages the opportunity to attend school for the 2014/15 academic year. This unfortunate situation was reported to the Ogun State Governor, Commissioner for Education and State Primary Education Board in Abeokuta.