The Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim Church, located opposite the Police Barracks in Obalende, Lagos State, has claimed that state government officials demolished parts of its property even though there is a court case about the land.
The church’s Secretary, Oluwasegun Alade, shared this information with PUNCH Metro on Thursday. He mentioned that the church has been using the property since 1977.
Alade said the Lagos State Government gave the land to the church’s founder in 1981 during the time of late Governor Lateef Jakande.
He stated that the church has documents like a survey plan and receipts to back its claim to the property.
The dispute started about three years ago when authorities marked several police barracks in Lagos, including those in Obalende, Ije, and Falomo, for demolition. Alade noted that the church’s property was also marked, which led to the church's lawyer filing a suit against the police.
Alade claimed that the police did not show up for many court hearings. He added that there was no effort to demolish the property for over a year.
But on Saturday, August 29, 2026, officials returned to the property, tore down the church’s fence, and marked the building for removal within 24 hours. Alade said, “On Saturday, August 29, 2026, they came to the church in the evening. By 6 pm, they demolished the fence and entered the building. They marked it and wrote, ‘Remove within 24 hours.’
“The minister in charge called me and told me that some people had come to mark the church. There was a number on the sticker, so we called the number, and they asked us to bring our documents to their office.
“I took the documents to their office on Monday morning and showed them the documents. On my way back, around 9 pm, I was informed that the people had entered the compound and said we should move within two hours.”
Alade alleged that during a visit to the office of the Director of Enforcement of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, the official confirmed the church’s documents were valid. He said the official asked about approval for the building on the property, to which the church explained that it just renovated an existing structure.
Alade stated, “He said our documents were genuine and that Lagos State allocated the land to the church. He asked about the approval Lagos State gave for the building we erected there, but we told him we did not build any structure; we only renovated it.
“He said he would buy us some time to do the needful because the order was from above. But while we were still in his office in Ikeja, the demolition had already started. Before we got back to the church, they had demolished part of it.”
The church secretary said the short notice made it impossible for them to remove their belongings before the demolition began. The minister in charge, Ayodele Ogunfowora, added that the demolition started without the church receiving any formal letter or notice.
“No letter, no notice, nothing. They just came and said we should remove everything within 24 hours. Later, they reduced it to two hours and started demolishing. I don’t know how we could remove everything from the building within that period,” he said.
Ogunfowora also claimed that an officer from the “C” Department, Works Force Headquarters Annex of the Nigeria Police Force in Obalende, Lagos, had been threatening the church to vacate the property.
“During the demolition, the officer, who is a CSP, was on the ground. He came with the officials of LASBCA and was seen taking pictures of the exercise,” he added.
Attempts to get a response from the state government were unsuccessful. The Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, could not be reached for comment on Thursday. His mobile phone was not answered, and a text message sent to him did not get a reply as of the time of this report.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Anietie Iniedu, also could not be reached for comment, as calls and a text message sent to him were not answered.
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