Celestial Church floors Deeper Life in court

 

The Appeal Court sitting in Lagos has upheld a high court judgment ordering the Registered Trustees of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry to pay N5 million as damages for trespass on a piece of land owned by the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC).
Joseph Ebhodagbe, who represented the Celestial Church, had dragged Pastor William Kumuyi-led ministry to court over a disputed land measuring approximately 1055.864 square meters.
The said landed property located at Mulero area of Agege and registered as No. 75 Volume 2004T at the Lagos State Land Registry, Ikeja, is a subject of dispute between both well-recognised denominations in Nigeria.

Justice Candide-Johnson had in a judgment on January 17, 2014, declared the CCC as the rightful owner of the disputed land and awarded N5m as damages against the Deeper Life.
An earlier injunction restraining DCLM, its agents or servants from further trespass on the disputed land, was granted after the judgment.

But the Deeper Life, through its lawyer, Gabriel Akigbe, showed its dissatisfaction, and appealed against the judgment.
The DLCM urged the court to set aside the initial judgment on the grounds that the trial judge was in error with regard to the documentary and oral evidence presented in the court.

The appellate court comprising Justice Chinwe Iyizoba (presiding), Justice Yargata Nimpar and Justice Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo dismissed the appeal on the grounds that the case lacked merit.