Ripples From Chime's Demolistion of MFM'S sOUTH-East Headquarters

Emotions rose high on Thursday October 10, 2013 in Enugu when officials of the state government carried out their threat by demolishing the multi-purpose building of the South East regional headquarters of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, situated along Zik Avenue, Enugu. It will be recalled that in September last year, when Governor Sullivan Chime was out of the country for medical trip and for vacation, bulldozers arrived the church and were ready to pull it down but could not because the church instituted a law suit claiming that they acquired the place legally and that the church plan got government approval. Religious leaders from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and that of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) pleaded with the government to re-consider its position. According to the former resident pastor of the church, Pastor Kennedy Udeogaranya, they were grateful to the government for giving them a place to relocate. He however opined that government should give them time to relocate. Pastor Udeogaranya told reporters pointedly that the place they were given by the government was a land in dispute, saying that two communities in Enugu North and Enugu South Local Government Areas of the state were each laying claims to the ownership of the land even when the government had given the church the certificate of occupancy to the said land. Emeke Ogene, an Enugu resident told Tribune Church that the MFM acquired the land legally and there was no reason why the place should not be demolished. “Don’t mind them. The church acquired the place legally. This idea that they did not get government approval is not true,” he said. The Commissioner for Land, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ujam, said they would not pay compensation because the church did not get government approval before building. He said that the governor gave the church an alternative place to relocate because he was a man who liked handling things peacefully and amicably without seeking recourse to court action and violence. Commissioner for Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, (ECTDA), Ikechukwu Ugwuegede said the government pulled down the edifice because the church did not get government approval. He said what was uppermost in the mind of the government was to the security of lives and property and that is what prompted the demolition. Detachments of armed policemen and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) were stationed at strategic points apparently to wade off hoodlums from carting away the property of the church as well as quell any rebellion. A statement issued by Ugwuegede, on Thursday, insisted that the structure was illegal and unapproved, adding that application for approval was rejected in March, 2012. According to him, “copious opportunity was given to Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries to make good the illegality ever since then. With the allocation of land of more than 4000sq m to the Mountain of Fire and Miracles more than three months ago, the state government believes that they do have an alternate area to develop. “It must also be borne in mind that with the seasonal rains and floods this year resulting in the collapse of three buildings within the capital territory and the loss of one woman and an unborn child, the state government has a duty to all and sundry, including adherents and worshipers at the Mountain of Fire and Miracles. “No responsible government will stand and permit a predictable catastrophe to befall its people before taking appropriate steps. The state government had also identified other structures which must be brought down to present any unsafe condition or illegal structure from remaining” he concluded,” he said. As at last Thursday, when Tribune Church visited both the demolished church and the new site given to the church by the government, some of the church members were still seen discussing the demolition exercise as they claimed that they were not given enough time to relocate. Meanwhile, rods, plywood and other valuable property belong to the church were being evacuated from the rubble. Culled from tribune Newspaper