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 LEADERSHIP Weekend 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.
Speaking
to Saturday Beats on the phone earlier in the week, after being evicted
from the show, Angelo said, “We didn’t have sex. We talked about it.
There were some things I said I wasn’t going to do in the house.
