OPM Pastor Decries Demolition of Church School by Lagos State Government
The Senior Pastor of the Omega Power Ministry (OPM), Chibuzor Chinyere, has strongly condemned the demolition of a section of the church located along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway by officials of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).
The demolition, carried out on Wednesday, displaced pupils from the church’s free school, leaving them distraught. Pastor Chinyere expressed his outrage, stating, “Happening Now. Lagos State Government demolishing OPM free schools in Lagos State. A free school for orphans and children of widows. Let the tears of the orphans and widows begin to speak.”
Pastor Chinyere criticized the compensation offered by the government as inadequate, claiming the demolished structures were worth approximately N900 million, while the government offered only N120 million. He further stated that he was unaware of any negotiations with LAMATA, emphasizing that only he or the church lawyer, Roselyn Tokunbo, had the authority to negotiate on behalf of the church.”
I am the General Overseer of Omega Power Ministry. It is either the church lawyer, Roselyn Tokunbo, or myself who has the authority to negotiate,” Pastor Chinyere said. “Development is good, but pay adequate compensation and not give a peanut of N120m and you want to hijack a property of N900m. It is pure wickedness.”
LAMATA, however, defended the demolition, stating that it was necessary for the development of the transport corridor. Kola Ojelabi, the Head of Corporate Communication for LAMATA, emphasized that the compensation offered reflected the depreciated value of the land and that such actions were standard procedure.”
The land belongs to the government and since the government has revoked the land, we are paying for the value of the building on the land,” Ojelabi said. “We have not had any issue like this since we started all our transport projects. So, I believe that the amount that we offered, N123m, is just enough for the property we are acquiring for our project.”
he incident has sparked controversy, with the church alleging inadequate compensation and questioning the legitimacy of the negotiations.
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