Queen Emegha Ozuke, business woman and founder of a
reputable nursery, primary and secondary school in Kubwa
town of Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT), speaks to CHRIS OGBOR on her ordeal in the hands of
some fake men of God
It is an irony that Queen Emegha Ozuke, who is supposed
to be enjoying the dividend of being one of the pioneer
visitors to Abuja after its creation by Decree No. 6 of 1976
and should be reaping the fruits of her labour, is rather in
a dilemma as a result of the nefarious activities of some
dubious ministers of the gospel.
Emegha Ozuke, who hails from Igbanke in Edo State and
has been living in Abuja since 1979, said she was one of the
contractors that supplied Dumez (Nig.) Limited elephant
grass which the company used for erosion control while
constructing roads in various parts of the Federal Capital
City (FCC) in the 1980s. As a pioneer settler and business
woman, she was allocated plots of land in Deidei, Jikwoyi,
Kubwa, Kurudu, et al in the FCT and established a primary-
cum-secondary school in Kubwa town.
According to the 68-year-old woman: “My problem started
when my beloved daughter, Patience got married to Mr
Etumudon Godwin and later had a baby. Because she was
nursing a child, Patience’s husband introduced a lawyer
known as Abdullahi Ibrahim to me to serve as legal adviser
of my school.”
Ozuke disclosed that in September 2008, Abdullahi
borrowed the sum of N1million from her late daughter
(Patience) on the pretext that he was going to use it to
execute contract at the police headquarters in Abuja. She
added that Abdullahi promised that he would pay back the
money with interest on the 17th day of October 2008, but
has not done so up till now.
She also said Abdullahi in turn introduced to her, one
Pastor Alani Alex, general overseer of Creative Faith
International Gospel Centre who was said to be looking for
a place to use as branch of his church. She said that Alex
eventually rented a large hall in her school compound and
paid rent for the first year, 2009. He also did some repair
work on a 3-bedroom flat annexed to the school for use by
his church.
LEADERSHIP Weekend, however, gathered that Ozuke
reached an agreement with the pastor to stay in the school
compound for three years (2009-2012) only, and to go with
her to the market to purchase all building materials
necessary for the renovation work for record purposes, but
that the pastor bought the materials without her
knowledge.
At the end of the three years agreed, Ozuke said, “Pastor
Alex refused to vacate my premises except I refunded to
him the sum of N4.1 million which he alleged he spent on
the renovation of the property.”
An eviction notice to Pastor Alex, dated July 26, 2013 and
from Ozuke’s lawyer, Barrister S. O. Peters reads: “Very
sadly, contrary to the terms of the understanding and
agreement you have with our client, you have willy nilly
decided to overstay the three (3) years fixed duration and
even went further to forcefully annex some other parts of
the school and against our client’s consent decided to make
use of the building as part of your worship centre. To make
and use someone else’s property without the consent and
permission of the owner of the property under the guise of
religion is to portray the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in
bad light …”
Reacting to the allegations referred to in the letter when
LEADERSHIP Weekend met him on Sunday, August 18,
2013, Pastor Alex insisted that he paid a sum of N450,000
to Madam Ozuke in 2009 for the use of the hall and spent
an additional N4.1 million for renovation work on the
property.
The pastor, who said he built the school hall because there
was no structure on ground when he started worshipping at
the premises, said he would vacate the place whenever
Ozuke refunds the N4.1 million to him. He also said he was
willing to have an architect or quantity surveyor assess the
extent of work done and expenses incurred during the
renovation.
The bursar of the school, Mr Emmannuel Odiniya,
however, said there was existing structure in the school
compound, adding that the clergyman actually roofed the
hall and did renovation work on the uncompleted building.
He also disclosed that the pastor is currently making use of
a classroom in the school as his children church, adding
that he (the pastor) promised to deduct the rent in respect
of the classroom from the money Ozuke would pay to
him.
Another ‘man of God’ who allegedly defrauded Ozuke of
several millions of naira is Bishop Promise Dibie, a former
lecturer at College of Education, Agbor in Delta State but
now with College of Education, Zuba in the Federal Capital
Territory.
In 2008, according to Ozuke, “Bishop Dibie and his mother
(Theresa) approached me that they needed a place in Abuja
to establish their church and I showed them my plot of land
No. D41 at Zaudan, Pazeri and Sabon Gari Layout near
Deidei, for temporary use.
“I thought Bishop Dibie and his mother were true preachers
of the gospel because they prayed fervently and spoke in
tongues each time they visited me. So I drew closer to them
and regarded them as family friends, not knowing that they
are sheep in wolves’ clothing”, Ozuke said with tears
streaming down her eyes.
She also disclosed that while her daughter (late Patience)
and her husband (Godwin) were seriously ill, she asked
Dibie to sell her 18-seater bus and a plot of land on Arab
road, Kubwa, to defray their medical bills.
“Bishop sold the bus for N500,000 and the plot of land for
N2.5 million to one Pastor Sam of Christ’s Victorious
Church, Kubwa, bringing the total amount to N3million but
unfortunately, my daughter died two weeks after the death
of her husband and few days after the sale of the property.
When I asked Bishop to give me the N3 million, he
promised to do so after the burial ceremony of my
daughter.
She also claimed, “Pastor Sam also robbed me of N200,000
on the pretext that he would supply machine for printing of
exercise books to my school. Sadly, up till date, neither has
Pastor Sam nor Bishop Dibie refunded the money to me”,
Ozuke lamented.
Madam Ozuke also told our men that Bishop
Dibie stole photocopy of her document in respect of her plot
of land in Jikwoyi, sold it to one Dr Ademola Adeyinka
through a female lawyer for N4million and instead, paid
N1.6 million into her account.
“I, however, paid back the N1.6 million to Bishop Dibie and
sold the land by myself, to a civil servant”, Ozuke
disclosed.
In his reaction, Dr Ademola Adeyinka in a telephone chat
with LEADERSHIP Weekend, said he reported the matter to
the police at Jikwoyi police station on Thursday, June 26,
2013, adding that Bishop Dibie is yet to refund the N4
million he defrauded him of through the female lawyer
who allegedly posed as the rightful owner of the land.
Asked why he has not collected his money from the Bishop
or the female lawyer since the past four years, Adeyinka
said, “I am a very busy man, I am taking my time, but be
rest assured that by God’s grace, I must get back my N4
million”.
Concerted efforts by LEADERSHIP Weekend to get the
response of Bishop Dibie have not been successful because
some of his colleagues at the College of Education, Zuba
said he travelled abroad a few months ago, to pursue his
masters degree programme at Coventry University in the
United Kingdom.
LEADERSHIP Weekend also gathered from an
unimpeecable source in Agbor, Delta State that Bishop Dibie
fraudulently collected the sum of N1.3 million from Messrs
Udoka and Nduka on the pretext of issuing them visas to
travel to Europe. Our source further revealed that the
victims dragged the Bishop to the police in Agbor where he
gave each of them N300,000 with a promise to refund the
balance, but has not done so up till now.
In their reactions to the nefarious activities of ‘new
generation’ men of God in Nigeria, two elders of a
Pentecostal church (names withheld), who are aware of
Madam Ozuke’s predicaments, wondered why Pastor Alex
would still be preaching and asking people to repent of
their sins when he was yet to vacate the premises of the 68-
year-old woman after the expiration of his tenancy, and
why Bishop Dibie, an overseer of St Peter’s Christ Army
Church of Nigeria in Agbor, Delta State, has refused to pay
her the N3 million he realised from the sale of her property
since 2009.
Source : Leadership newspaper
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