N65.5M land: Return my money, man begs Prophet Tibetan, ex-Ogun first lady

Prophet Marcus Tibetan, the maverick Lagos prophet and Shepherd in the Celestial Church of Christ is currently having a duel with one of his church members over a suspicious land deal.

The Church member by the name David Timilehin who is in the real estate business is asking Nigerians and the Lagos State government to prevail on Tibetan to refund a sum of N65.5 million he allegedly paid to his account as payment for 30 plots of land supposedly located in Epe Lagos.

The land according to David as he is fondly called was sold by Mrs Omolara Akintonde, wife of Daniel Akintonde, former Military governor of Ogun State who also attends the church of the Prophet in Lagos. But Prophet Tibetan was the one who played the go-between in the transaction.

The whole drama began when Tibetan informed David that Mrs. Akintonde has some land to sell in the Lekki area, close to Dangote Refinery. David indicated an interest in the land and was willing to buy at the cost price which was put at N2 million per plot for the 30 plots and some additional cost which put the whole money at about N65 million

At the early stage of the deal, he wanted to get a lawyer to help with the technical details of the transaction. But the prophet according to David prevailed on him not to get a lawyer and that he would not need a lawyer since he was involved.

David said,  “I took him as a mentor and spiritual father and I never thought anything could go wrong. He also took me as a son, or so I thought. So I did not bother to get a lawyer. Over time I transferred the money to him in tranches. He was supposed to pay Mrs Akintonde who wanted to sell the land.”

All this happened in the first quarter of last year

A year after

But a year after David transferred the money to Prophet Tibetan and also got confirmation that Mrs Akintonde has received the money, he has not been allocated the land nor did he receive a receipt of payment nor any documentation on the Land. Instead, both Mrs. Akintonde and the Prophet have been dribbling him.

David said, “There are indications that Tibetan and Akintonde have connived to deny me my hard-earned money.”

David made available audio clips of conversations he had with Tibetan which indicated there was a land deal between the two of them. The conversations also indicated how Prophet Tibetan tried to prevail on him to be patient so that he would get both the receipt and the documents of the land. Listen to the audio here

But the agitation to get a refund began when David visited the land without the knowledge of Prophet Tibetan. “That day I was in Lekki and I decided to visit the land. I put a call to Mrs. Akintonde because the information she and the prophet gave me was that the place is close to the Dangote refinery. So that day I called Mrs Akintonde to describe the place. By the time she described the place to me, I discovered it was not in any way close to Dangote Refinery. That was when I lost interest in the land.

“When Tibetan got to know I took a trip to the land, he got so upset on the phone uttering statements that were unbecoming of a servant of God. He said to me that he does not forgive an adult when an adult offends him”. He was shouting at the top of his voice.

“That was when I began getting suspicious of the veracity of his claim about the land. I discovered that the land is largely uncultivated land in the remote areas of Epe. And land there can’t sell for more than N1m per plot. But then, I began to wonder why he was so annoyed that I went to check the land I paid for.”

The cost of the land changed

Apart from that, David said after he had paid the N65.5 million, Akintonde who sold the land came up with another claim. “She said the earlier price of N2 million per plot was a mistake, that the land actually cost N5 million per plot. So for the 30 plots of land, I may have to pay N150 million.” David said.

That was the point David decided he was no longer interested in the land, moreso, the location of the land according to him makes the charges absurd.

Ironically, he has not been given a receipt for the payment he made. He is yet to get the documents for the land either. It was like he was being manipulated.

Mrs. Akintonde kept keeping him in suspense. He asked him to exercise patience, and that the documents of the land and the receipt would be given to him. At a point, he blocked David’s number so he could not reach him

But David kept telling Prophet Tibetan he was no longer interested in the land and that he would prefer that his money be refunded.

Foot dragging continued

In the course of the transaction, Tibetan traveled out of the country and left instructions that nothing should be done on the land until he comes back. He has also been using subtle threats and blackmail according to David who said,  “He once told me even if the woman agrees to refund the money what if she dies in the process, what would I do?

“He had also made several insinuations about an impending doom. He told me one time that there are people who build mansions and never lived in them. When he was trying to discourage me from getting a lawyer, he wondered if I have heard of cases of lawyers being killed or kidnapped.

“Before the woman blocked my number, she asked me to go and see the Prophet since it was the prophet who collected money from me. I had to use a friend’s phone to reach her to put further pressure on her to return my money.”

The lawyer involved

To hasten the collection of his money, David has engaged the services of a lawyer who has written to Mrs. Akintonde asking for a refund.

The lawyer, Mr. Ayo Durojaiye in the letter to Akintonde noted that “the transaction is tainted with fraud”

He also noted that Akintonde unilaterally changed the price of the land per plot from N2m to N5m.

According to the lawyer, the plots of land which turned out to have been acquired by the Lagos State Government were meant to be used for public interest and not to be sold to individuals which Akintonde was about to do. He then asked that the money paid to her be refunded and that the client is no longer interested in the land.

The letter notwithstanding, Akintonde is still grandstanding. She has since cut off dealings with David and his lawyer.

Rather than do the needful, she has resorted to subtle blackmail asking David to meet Tibetan since Tibetan was the one he paid to.

Mrs Akintonde

Media findings

When our correspondent raised the matter with Prophet Tibetan on the phone at about 6 pm on Monday, June 5, he snapped and said he was not ready to entertain any questions asking the report to call back today. June 6

But an earlier conversation with two journalists which was recorded indicated clearly that he did collect money from Mr. David Timilehin. But he insisted that he only played a go-between and that David and Mrs. Akintonde should sort themselves out. He was literally furious while talking to another journalist who spoke with him on the phone making asking them not to be involved in matters that don’t concern them.

Mrs Akintonde on the other hand denied knowing David even when the Prophet had confirmed the deal with her in a recorded phone conversation.

Here is the audio clip of Mrs. Akintonde’s conversation with a journalist from Sahara Reporter who was also briefed about the case:  The clipAUD-20230605-WA0066

But Prophet Tibetan in another interview with the Cable did not deny collecting money. But he insisted that Mrs. Akintonde and Mr. David should go and sort themselves out. Here is the audio of the interview with the Cable News Man: AUD-20230606-WA0039

To buttress his claim David made available bank statements showing all the transaction details of funds to Tibetan’s account.

The statement showed the money was paid in tranches about six times.

For now, David would rather collect his money than go into an unending legal battle with his estranged father in faith. ‘I want the public to prevail on Prophet Tibetan to return my money. I am not interested in a legal battle for now. I have to cry out to Nigerians who know the prophet and the government to help talk to the prophet to return my money. I am no longer interested in the land. By the way, the land from my findings was allocated to Mrs. Akintonde by the Lagos State Government for commercial purposes.'”