What started as two religious establishments operating side by side along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has gradually developed into a complicated dispute involving land, worship, alleged interference, criminal charges and a separate police case over publications linking Prophet G.F. David with an alleged plot to take over Satguru Maharaj Ji’s property.
At the centre of the controversy are the Faith and Miracle International Church (FMIC), founded by Senior Prophet Gbemiga Faith David, and the Satguru Maharaj Ji Village of the One Love Family, located around the Odo-Ona Kekere/Alaadorin axis of Ibadan.
Available court and media records, however, show that the story is not simply one of “Prophet versus Maharaj Ji” over ownership of land.
Rather, the disagreement appears to have evolved around adjoining properties, activities taking place around their common boundary and competing narratives about what happened next.
How the two properties came to share a boundary
Satguru Maharaj Ji’s presence on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway dates back decades.
Satguru Maharaj Ji’s presence on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway dates back decades.
A University of Ibadan-linked research study on the One Love Family states that the Maharaj Ji Village was established around 1987 after the movement relocated from Lagos.
The research identified the site as a large expanse of land along the Ibadan-Lagos Expressway and documented the community’s distinctive spiritual and land-management structure.
According to that research, Maharaj Ji told the researchers that the land had been acquired from the Alaadorin family of Yemetu in Ibadan. Members of the movement also told the researchers that surveys and government approvals had been obtained for development on the property. Those historical claims, however, are not the same thing as a current court determination in the dispute involving FMIC.
Maharaj Ji’s property has also had a long history of land-related controversies.
In 2021, The Independent reported allegations that suspected land grabbers had invaded his property and pulled down part of the fence at the village.
Maharaj Ji said at the time that previous court judgments had favoured him and accused security personnel of assisting people he described as land grabbers.
Those allegations were his account of the dispute and were not presented by the newspaper as a judicial finding against the accused persons.
In another 2024 report, Nigerian Tribune quoted Maharaj Ji as again alleging attempts by land grabbers to take portions of his property and said court action had been taken over the matter.
That background is important because the current controversy did not emerge on an empty piece of land.
Then came Prophet G.F. David’s church
Faith and Miracle International Church, according to its official ministry website, was founded in Ibadan by Senior Prophet G.F. David.
The ministry identifies David as its founder and describes the church as a Christian ministry focused on worship, prayer, deliverance and evangelism.
By April 2026, reports placed FMIC at Kilometre 10, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, opposite Odo-Ona Kekere, sharing a fence with the Maharaj Ji Village.
That physical proximity would eventually become central to the dispute.
The Easter Monday incident that changed the temperature
The immediate flashpoint came on April 6, 2026, Easter Monday.
According to the prosecution’s case later presented before an Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ Court, four men identified as members of the Satguru Maharaj Ji sect allegedly interfered with a worship service at the Faith and Miracle International Church.
Police alleged that the men burned dried red pepper in burners and released the smoke towards worshippers.
The allegations were serious.
According to court reports, the smoke allegedly caused coughing, choking, excessive tearing and irritation among worshippers, with the prosecution alleging that the act disrupted the service and created a risk of breach of peace.
A pastor of FMIC, Oluwatosin Alofun, gave a more detailed account to Saturday Tribune.
He said worshippers initially thought the smoke was coming from grass being burned. According to him, the situation became alarming when members of the congregation began coughing and experiencing severe eye irritation.
He further alleged that people behind the fence were holding censers containing dried red pepper and directing the smoke towards the church congregation.
Alofun said children and pregnant women were among those affected and that the service was eventually disrupted.
Those allegations have not been established as facts by a final court judgment.
Four Maharaj Ji followers end up in court
Four men — Timilehin Orumor, 40; Jimoh Ogunjerimi, 29; Ojo Ajayi, 34; and Omokenke Akinbami, 40 — were subsequently arraigned before an Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ Court.
They faced five counts relating to conspiracy, allegedly preventing a minister from officiating, disturbing worship and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.
The prosecution cited Sections 205, 206, 247(a), 249(d) and 517 of the Criminal Code Laws of Oyo State, 2000. All four defendants pleaded not guilty.
Chief Magistrate Olabisi Ogunkanmi granted each defendant bail of ₦750,000, with two sureties in like sum. One surety was required to own landed property within the jurisdiction, while another was required to be a blood relation. The case was adjourned to June 30, 2026, for hearing.
Importantly, the available reports reviewed for this story do not establish that the defendants have been convicted.
But then another, more explosive story surfaced
While the confrontation around the adjoining properties was generating attention, another legal matter brought Prophet G.F. David’s name directly into the Maharaj Ji controversy.
In June 2026, police charged Seye Brodiemends, 69, and Iwuat Nsidibe, 48, before an Iyaganku Magistrates’ Court over alleged false publication.
According to the prosecution, the defendants allegedly published material on social media between March and April claiming that Pastor G.F. David was the “new TB Joshua of Ibadan” and had come to eliminate Satguru Maharaj Ji and steal his land.
The police described the publication as false and alleged that its purpose was to cause fear and unrest.
Both men pleaded not guilty.
The court granted them bail of ₦1 million each, with two sureties in like sum, and adjourned the matter to December 15, 2026.
That means the allegation that David intended to eliminate Maharaj Ji and seize his land is, at this stage, an allegation contained in a criminal case against the people accused of publishing it — not a judicial finding that David actually planned such an act. That distinction is crucial.
What, then, is the actual land dispute?
This is where the story becomes more interesting.
The publicly available court reports reviewed do not show a judgment declaring that Prophet G.F. David has taken ownership of Maharaj Ji Village. Nor do they establish that David has been convicted of attempting to grab Maharaj Ji’s land.
This is where the story becomes more interesting.
The publicly available court reports reviewed do not show a judgment declaring that Prophet G.F. David has taken ownership of Maharaj Ji Village. Nor do they establish that David has been convicted of attempting to grab Maharaj Ji’s land.
What the available records clearly establish is that FMIC and the Maharaj Ji Village are adjoining properties, that a confrontation occurred around activities at the boundary, that four Maharaj Ji followers were prosecuted over an alleged disruption of worship, and that two other men were prosecuted over publications alleging that David wanted to eliminate Maharaj Ji and take his property. That is considerably different from a proven property-seizure case.
Maharaj Ji’s long-running battle over his property
Maharaj Ji’s sensitivity to land disputes is also rooted in his previous experiences.
In April 2021, he alleged that suspected land grabbers had again entered his property and pulled down his fence. He told Independent that he had obtained two favourable judgments concerning the land and accused Operation Burst personnel of providing security for those allegedly invading the property.
He appealed to the Oyo State Government and security authorities to intervene.
Three years later, he again publicly complained about alleged attempts to take portions of the Maharaj Ji Village, saying court proceedings had been initiated against those he described as land grabbers.
Consequently, any new disagreement involving land immediately around the village carries a history that stretches well beyond the present confrontation.
Where G.F. David fits into the picture
David himself has become a prominent religious figure in Ibadan.
In May 2026, The Nation, PUNCH, The Guardian and Tribune separately reported comments by him on national security, justice and governance.
Those reports identify him as the General Overseer or founder of Faith and Miracle International Church.
None of those reports, however, provides evidence that he was pursuing ownership of Maharaj Ji’s village.
That is why the social-media allegation now before the court deserves to be treated carefully.
A dispute bigger than a fence
What makes the Ibadan controversy unusual is the way several separate issues have become intertwined.
There is first the physical question of adjoining land. Then comes the religious dimension, with a Christian church operating beside a spiritual community led by Maharaj Ji.
There is also the question of conduct around the common boundary, which produced the April confrontation and criminal charges against four Maharaj Ji followers.
Finally, there is the information battle, represented by the case against two men accused of spreading claims that David wanted to eliminate Maharaj Ji and take his property.
Those are related events, but they are not necessarily the same legal dispute.
What remains unresolved
Several questions remain open. Did either side formally challenge the other’s title or boundaries before a court?
What exactly are the respective survey plans, title documents and approved boundaries of the two properties?
Was the April incident an isolated confrontation or the product of an earlier disagreement over the use of the adjoining land?
What happened at the June 30 hearing involving the four Maharaj Ji followers?
And what evidence will ultimately be presented in the separate false-publication case scheduled for December 15?
Available public reports reviewed for this story do not provide definitive answers to all of those questions.
For now, therefore, the most defensible description is not that G.F. David is fighting Maharaj Ji for his land, but that a tense dispute between two adjoining religious establishments has generated criminal proceedings and a separate controversy over allegations of an alleged plan to seize Maharaj Ji’s property.
The real battle may now be over the facts
In a city where land disputes frequently carry emotional, traditional, religious and financial dimensions, the Ibadan confrontation has acquired another layer: competing narratives.
One side has alleged interference with worship.
Another has produced defendants who deny criminal wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, people accused of publishing claims about a supposed plot against Maharaj Ji are themselves before the court, where the truth or otherwise of their allegations will be tested.
Until those legal processes produce findings, one fact should remain clear: an allegation is not a judgment, an arraignment is not a conviction, and a public accusation over land does not by itself establish ownership or an attempted land grab.
For Prophet G.F. David and Satguru Maharaj Ji, the next chapter may therefore be determined less by the volume of claims circulating around Ibadan and more by what can ultimately be established through documents, evidence and the courts.
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