Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Former Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries pastor Femi Jimoh has reportedly died, years after he became the subject of a highly publicised controversy over his detention for about nine years in connection with an alleged plot to rob the church. His reported death was announced by UK-based Nigerian blogger Maureen Badejo, who said the former MFM pastor died after battling serious health problems following years of detention and an alleged gunshot injury to his leg. His death has revived questions surrounding the circumstances of his arrest, prolonged incarceration, his eventual acquittal by a Lagos State High Court and the allegations he made against officials of MFM during a viral interview with Yoruba Gidi TV in 2024.
Jimoh became widely known to a wider audience after appearing on Yoruba Gidi TV, where he gave an emotional account of his experience in detention and alleged that he had spent approximately nine years in custody without trial. He alleged that his ordeal began after he encountered Michael Gbadamosi, the then Chief Security Officer to MFM founder, Pastor Daniel Olukoya, at a native doctor's residence. According to Jimoh, he was subsequently arrested, detained and subjected to physical abuse before being taken into police custody. He also alleged that a Divisional Police Officer shot him in the leg during the period of his detention. "I met Gbadamosi who is the chief security officer to Pastor Olukoya at a native doctor's house, what did he go there to do?" Jimoh said during the interview. "He was surprised to see me, and I did not reveal it to any human being. I was arrested and kept in the cell. I was there for 30 days. I didn't have a lawyer."
Jimoh further alleged that he was handcuffed and transported in the boot of a vehicle before being taken to Olukoya's residence. He claimed that he pleaded with the MFM founder not to allow him to be taken back to the police station because he did not know what offence he had committed. According to Jimoh, Olukoya told him that the matter was already at the police station and that he should allow the police to do their work. Jimoh said he was subsequently taken back into custody, where he alleged that he was tortured. "They took me to Theatre where they tortured people, I was beaten and handcuffed. When they came to the Theatre, one DPO shot me in the leg," he alleged. He also claimed that he and others were held in police custody without food before being taken to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), where he said they spent more than 25 days.
Jimoh said he was eventually charged with offences including attempted murder, conspiracy, armed robbery and felony and was remanded in prison. He alleged that his mother and sister later approached Olukoya to plead for his release. According to Jimoh, the MFM founder told them to ask him to plead guilty in court. "My dad died after he came to visit me in prison and saw my situation. My mother and my sister went to beg Olukoya on my behalf, he told them to go and tell me that I should accept that I had sinned and that if I pleaded guilty in court, he would call the Judge to release me," he said.
MFM, however, rejected Jimoh's account and denied that the church or Olukoya had framed him or caused him to remain in prison. The church said Jimoh had been prosecuted by the Nigerian police over an alleged plot to rob MFM and that his prolonged stay in custody was not the result of any action by the ministry. MFM's Chief Legal Adviser, Davidson Adejuwon, said in June 2024 that the claim that the former ministers had been imprisoned for nine years for offences they did not commit was "false, mischievous and misleading." "They were never locked up for nine years, they were granted bail but nobody went to secure their bail. They chose to remain in the custody," Adejuwon said. He maintained that the church had acted appropriately by reporting what it considered a planned armed attack to the police. "As such, a case of planned armed attack on credible intelligence against the church which could have led to the death of any member cannot be treated and handled internally by the church," he said. "We must report such to the law enforcement agency saddled with the responsibilities to investigate and deal with such issues. And that was exactly what we did as a responsible church."
Gbadamosi, whom Jimoh accused of meeting at the native doctor's residence, also denied the allegation. "I know that Ogbomoso is in Nigeria, but I Michael Olawale Gbadamosi, have never been to Ogbomoso before," he said.
Despite the competing accounts surrounding the case, a July 2016 judgment of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Igbosere acquitted and discharged Jimoh and two other defendants, Henry Aiyewero and Caleb Oloruntele, who had been charged with conspiracy to rob MFM. Justice O.A. Williams held that the prosecution had failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt. "I therefore find that the inference that there is an agreement between the defendants to commit the crime of robbing MFM church cannot be made," the judge ruled. "The prosecution not having proved its case, there is no burden on the defendants to prove their defence. I find and hold that the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The defendants are therefore acquitted and discharged."
The judgment became a significant part of the controversy because evidence presented by the prosecution included a video recording purportedly showing the defendants meeting at a bar to plan the alleged robbery. However, according to testimony from the manager of Jethro Hotel, where the video was recorded, the gathering had been presented to him as a movie shoot. The hotel manager, Paul Effiong, told the court that about 11 people, including prosecution witnesses and the defendants, had gathered at the hotel's bar after he was informed that a movie would be filmed there. He said he was shocked when he later saw the defendants on television being described as robbers. According to the court evidence reported by SaharaReporters, Effiong said he later confronted one of the people involved, who told him that there had been no movie and that it was an "arranged work, a business deal." The court ultimately acquitted and discharged Jimoh and the two other defendants.
The case resurfaced publicly in 2024 after Jimoh appeared on Yoruba Gidi TV and recounted his experience. His account, along with allegations made by Oloruntele, generated significant attention online and prompted MFM to hold a press conference to reject the allegations. The church maintained that the men had been accused of plotting to rob the church and potentially attack its members, while the former MFM members insisted that they had been wrongly implicated. The controversy also extended to the media platform that broadcast Jimoh's account. In December 2024, the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) invited Olakunle Fashugba, the Chief Executive Officer of Yoruba Gidi Online TV, for questioning over allegations including conspiracy, cyberbullying, serious threats to life, forgery and conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace. The invitation came months after Yoruba Gidi TV broadcast Jimoh's account and other allegations involving former MFM members.
The controversy did not end with the viral interview. According to Badejo, MFM's Chief Security Officer, Gbadamosi, later instituted legal proceedings involving Jimoh and Yoruba Gidi TV, with the matter reportedly still pending at the time of Jimoh's death. Badejo said Jimoh's death therefore raises questions about the fate of the legal proceedings and the broader issues surrounding his years in detention. "Now, Femi Jimoh is dead," Badejo said. "His death raises serious questions about prolonged detention, access to justice, accountability and the lasting consequences of what he said he endured during those nine years." She also questioned the effect of his alleged gunshot injury and years in custody on his health. "What happened to Femi Jimoh during those nine years? What impact did his alleged gunshot injury and years of detention have on his health?" she asked. "And now that he has died while the legal battle was reportedly ongoing, what happens to the case? May his soul rest in peace."
The death of Femi Jimoh marks the tragic end of a saga that exposed the dark underbelly of institutional power, the fragility of justice and the human cost of prolonged detention. For nine years, a man who was ultimately acquitted by a court of law remained in custody, his health broken, his family shattered, and his voice silenced until a viral interview brought his story to the world. Now, with his death, the questions he raised about accountability, due process and the role of powerful institutions in the lives of ordinary citizens remain unanswered. The legal battle may have ended with his death, but the search for justice continues.
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