Court set for verdict in cleric Ayorinde suit over dud cheque

A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has fixed December 6 for Judgment in a suit filed by Prophet Samson Ayorinde of the World Evangelism Church, against the Police and others.

The trial judge, Justice Adesola Adesanya, fixed the date after hearing on the application filed by the police, seeking dismissal of N4million damages claim instituted by Prophet Samson Ayorinde.

The respondent in a suit filed through its counsel, Mr. Samson Adebesin, averred that it received a petition from Aturamu Dare, Adesanya kemi and Smart Link Properties Services.

They alleged that Prophet Ayorinde, who obtained a bridging loan of N30 million from them around August 2016, for the expansion of his church on the promise that the loan would be repaid within two months on 30 per cent interest rate, issued postdated cheques of N118million drawn from his personal account and that of his church but all returned unpaid.

Adebesin therefore asked the court to dismiss the suit with substantive and punitive cost, alleging that the suit was a ploy to prevent the police from investigating the dud cheque complaint.

He further stated that all the depositions made by Ayorinde were false and that the pastor and other applicants cannot use their suit to stop the police from carry out its constitutional duties of investigating alleged crimes.

The defendants in the suit include Oludare Aturamu, Kemi Adesanya, Smart Link Property Services and Lagos Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (SCIID) Panti, Lagos.

The claimants, Pastor Ayorinde, Registered Trustees of World Evangelism Incorporated and Reverend Harold Chinoyerem had filed the suit marked D/6724MFHR/2018 before the court through their counsel, Mr. Emmanuel Benjamin.

They are asking court for an order restraining the police from publishing their names “in any police bulletin or any medium for the purpose of declaring them wanted or unlawfully detaining them at the instance of a firm, Smart Link Property Services.”

They also asked the court to, among others things, order the police to pay them N4 million as compensation for breach of their fundamental rights.