The 10-year-old leadership tussle in the first and oldest Cherubim and Seraphim Church Oke Igbala, 13, Igboliki Street, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has been judicially settled.
Some members of the church led by one Senior Suprintendent Apostle (Arc) Jimi Ajidahun and five others had in 2011 dragged the grandchildren of the founder of the church, the late Juliana Omoleye, to court that they the defendants were not entitled to participate in the decision-making of the church concerning the day-to-day running or management of the church.
Among other prayers sought by the claimants include an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from interfering in the day to day management of the church.
They prayed for damages of N5million, for unlawful interference of the defendants in the management of the church.
They also claimed that the church established by Captain Juliana Omoleye in 1933 was not her personal estate and so could not be transferred to her children.
In her judgement, Chief Judge, Justice O.O Akeredolu on May 29, 2020 at the Ondo State High Court of Justice sitting in Akure, struck out the N5 million damages for lack of evidence.
The judgement reads inter alia: “There is no justification for an ancillary relief where the Claimants have not led credible evidence to support the main reliefs claimed. Injunction cannot be ordered by the court.
“The lone issue formulated by the Claimants’ counsel is resolved against them.
“The case of the Claimants lacks merit and it is dismissed in its entirety.”
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