The Mountain of Fire and Miracles
Ministries has barred residents of host communities from passing through
its Prayer City in Magboro.
The development has dimmed the hope of
residents of the no fewer than 17 communities, whose access road was
recently blocked, that the church may reopen the road.
Also, women in trousers, who have other
business in the Prayer City, located at Magboro on the Lagos-Ibadan
Expressway, Ogun State, have been barred from passing through the camp
ground.
The MFM had on Saturday, May 10, blocked
the access road to Magboro, Magada, Makogi, Abule Odo and Unity Estate
among other communities, a move the residents claimed was not only
surprising, but was done without consultation with them.
The Ibafo Police Division had intervened
in a planned protest by the residents on May 17, promising that the
issues involved would be resolved.
The Divisional Police Officer, Mr. Jimoh
Salawu, in appealing to the residents, called for a meeting of the
representatives of the Community Development Associations in the area,
where he asked the communities to write a letter outlining their
demands.
Salawu had promised that the church
would attend to the demands of the residents, chief of which was the
re-opening of the blocked access road instead of relocating the ‘road’
to a waterlogged area, which has become a nightmare with the increasing
rainfall.
Three weeks after the DPO’s
intervention, the church barred the residents from passing through its
estate, which is the only access road to link the expressway.
Operatives of the new security outfit,
which the church engaged, on Saturday informed the residents, especially
the motorists among them, that starting from Monday this week, they
would no longer be allowed to pass through the camp ground.
While the new security operatives said
the order came from the “church management”, one of the old security
officers claimed that the house owners in the church estate, where the
road passes through, took the decision not to allow the residents of
adjoining areas to pass through the camp ground.
“The new guys don’t understand what is
going on here. The people living in the estate said they don’t want
anyone to pass through this area. That is why they have locked all the
gates so that there will only be one road for resident of this estate;
not for outsiders,” said the security man, who would not want his name
in print.
Meanwhile, the church has started a
“strict enforcement” of its law against women putting on trousers and
passing through the camp ground.
Some women, who were on their way to the
Ecobank in the Prayer City on Monday recounted their experiences in the
hands of the security men at the main gate of the camp.
They wondered why the church must “embarrass” women, who were on their way to a “bank and not the church auditorium.”
One of them, who spoke to our
correspondent on condition of anonymity on Monday, said, “See the loose
trousers that I’m putting on. How does this offend anybody? You can
imagine the embarrassment that I was subjected to at the gate on my way
here (bank).
“They asked why I must wear trousers to
this place, as if I said I was going to the church auditorium. At least,
they should have waited till I want to enter the church.”
When contacted, the Assembly pastor of
the church, identified simply as Pastor Irabor said, “You are from
where? Who sent you? Tell PUNCH I have no comment. God bless you.”
However, the Security Head of the
church, who gave his name only as Mr. Lanre, told our correspondent that
the road in question was not an access route for the public, adding
that security challenges informed the barricade.
“The so-called access road is illegal.
It is part of the church property. If we decided to block it, I don’t
think that is business of anybody. Can you claim what does not belong to
you? They (communities) even went ahead to stage an informal protest.
Attacks on public places in the country have made it mandatory for
organisations to beef up their security.
“We are not under compulsion to share
our property with the communities. Regarding your question on the social
benefits the neighbouring residents derive from the church, I can’t
comment on that. But there are records of what we have done for them,”
he said.
Commenting on the women on trousers, Lanre said the dress was inconsistent with the doctrine of the church.
He said, “Such women will be barred from taking the road on the camp that links to the expressway.”
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