After serving at the Redeemed Christian Church of God for 23 years, Bayo Akinjiyan, 55, has decried what he described as “man’s inhumanity to man and the travesty of justice” by the church he served “meritoriously.”
Akinjiyan, who voluntarily resigned from the church in 2013 after rising to the position of an assistant provincial pastor at Lagos Province 25, said he could not fathom why an organisation he was once a part of for 23 years would treat him with “human indignity” and refuse to pay him what is due to him.
Upon his exit from the church, Akinjiyan said he had to vacate a N15m house he personally built on Plot 15, Diligence Road, Redemption Camp, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which is in line with the policy of the church that a non-member has no rights to own any building at the camp.
However, after handing over the property, its receipt has yet to be acknowledged by the authorities of the church; a position Akinjiyan said had made him uncomfortable.
His other grievance is over unpaid consultancy fees amounting to over N2m on projects designed, supervised and or managed by him since 2012.
Akinjiyan said he had exploited all available media to express his grievances to the church, including through the writing of private letters to the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, but after waiting for over two years and his grievances had yet to be addressed, he had resorted to writing an open letter to the leader of the church.
His letter read, “First, I want to address the attitude and response of the authorities and leadership of the Redeemed Christian Church of God over the house on Plot 15, Diligence Road, Redemption Camp Estate, Redemption Camp, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway that I handed over to them upon my voluntary exit from the church after 23 years of meritorious service and having risen to the position of assistant provincial pastor.
“This was contained in my letter of resignation, dated November 3, 2013. That I gave my best in this adventure was alluded to by the church in the letter of release, dated March 11, 2014, which states inter alia, ‘…We wish to appreciate you for your contributions to this ministry and we pray that God will reward and support you in your future endeavours…’
“Secondly, the attitude and response of the Board of Governors of Christ the Redeemers College, Sagamu, Ogun State Nigeria — a private secondary school operated by Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries, an affiliate of RCCG, over an unpaid consultancy fees on projects designed, supervised and or managed by me since 2012.
“I know the implications of my actions and having fully weighed my options, I hereby accept full responsibilities for my actions. My decision to inform the Christian community and the larger society is not aimed at destroying or tarnishing the image of anyone or maligning the church that once gave me fire, but rather, it is aimed at putting records straight, and satisfying my God and my conscience. I have prayed over this matter, consulted those that I needed to, and I’ve come to the conclusion that God is on the side of those who have a right standing with Him.
“Let us address the first issue — the house at Redemption Camp. In line with the policy of the RCCG mission on those who build on its land, the keys to the house on the above mentioned location, which is a five-bedroom house (all en-suite), valued by a firm of chartered estate surveyors at N15.5m as of December 5, 2011, were submitted to the church through my letter to the General Overseer, dated March 4, 2014 upon my voluntary exit.
“Reminders were also sent through four other letters dated September 2, 2015, January 2, 2016, March 10, 2016, and June 27, 2016. Of all these letters and reminders, the only response I had was a letter dated October 9, 2015, acknowledging the letter of September 2, stating as follows, ‘…We wish to inform you that the issues raised in your letter have been referred to concerned officials for their comments and response. We shall g
