President and founder of LoveWorld Incorporated better known as Christ Embassy, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome has said the fire incident at the church’s headquarters was not an accident but an avenue for bigger and better things.

The renowned pastor stated this during a live Sunday service at the church’s campground, Asese.

Intel Region reported that the headquarters of the Christ Embassy Church, located in the Oregun area of Ikeja, Lagos State, caught fire on Sunday morning.

Personnel of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service were on the scene to put out the fire.

According to worshippers, the morning service was immediately moved to Corner Stone — an annex of the church — due to the inferno.

A couple of worshippers said an electrical spark may have been responsible for the fire.

However, reacting to the incident at the live service, Pastor Chris said, “Nothing happens in the life of a child of God by accident. During the 2001 Ikeja cantonment bombing incident, the building vibrated so much and we thought it was going to collapse.

“I thought to myself that if it collapsed I was going to build a bigger, better one. At the end of the day it didn’t collapse and we called the engineers to see if there was any need to bring it down and rebuild but it was still okay.

“Now that this has happened, we will build a bigger, better, and more glorious one and the devil will lick his wound.”

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has stopped pilgrims from proceeding to the Jamarat Bridge for the ritual of throwing stones from 11 am to 4 pm due to extreme heat.

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Dr Abdulfattah bin Sulaiman, issued the directive in a statement on Monday in Mina, Makkah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He said the measure became necessary in order to ensure the well-being of pilgrims amidst high temperatures and to prevent heat stress.

“Accordingly, the following measures have been implemented: pilgrims are prohibited from proceeding to the Jamarat Bridge for the ritual of throwing stones from 11 am to 4 pm.”

He said security personnel would be stationed at camps to enforce the restriction and prevent any pilgrim from departing before 4 pm. He urged the Office of Hajj Affairs and service providers to ensure compliance, adding that they they would be held responsible for any violations thereof.

“We pray for Allah’s protection over the pilgrims and the acceptance of their Hajj.”

Meanwhile, the official of the Nigeria’s Hajj Commission has intercepted two illegal migrants of Nigerian decent (Muhammed Umar and Nazifi Tasi’u Garba), over infiltration of pilgrims tents amidst concerns regarding overstretched accommodation and petty theft.

Consequently, the suspects were handed over to the Saudi Police, where their biometrics were obtained and a fine of 10,000 Saudi Riyals was imposed on them to be paid whenever they are leaving the country.

NAN reports that the Jamarat are three pillars located in Mecca and are an important part of the Hajj pilgrimage for Muslims.

As part of their pilgrimage to Mecca, pilgrims throw pebbles at the pillars to symbolically “stone the devil.”

The Stoning of the Devil—or rajm al-jamarat, translated as throwing pebbles—is a way for Muslims to reject temptation, affirm their faith in Allah, and honor the Prophet Ibrahim.

NAN reports that according to the Saudi Gazette, more than 1.83 million pilgrims performed this year’s hajj.

A total of 1,833,164 pilgrims came from within the Kingdom and abroad to perform the annual pilgrimage and they included 1,611,310 foreign pilgrims and 221,854 domestic pilgrims, both citizens and expatriates.

The leadership of Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries has debunked claims that it framed up ex-members of the church identified as Femi Jimoh and Caleb Oloruntele over an alleged planned attack against the church.

This was as the three individuals who testified against the former members in court over the alleged act narrated how the duo approached them to solicit their assistance on how to hire a gun to rob the “first fruits” offering of the church in the year 2008.

The individuals identified as Akeem Omojomolo, Tajudeen Usein, and Fatai Adebayo revealed how they played along in the plot, leading to their arrest.

Jimoh had in an interview accused the church of being behind his imprisonment for nine years without trial, over alleged armed robbery.

He claimed to have been framed by the church, adding that his trial started when he met the chief security officer of MFM founder, Pastor Daniel Olukoya, at a native doctor’s house.

On his part, Caleb, during an interview, said Olukoya wanted him dead because he refused to give false testimony against a pastor he identified as Femi Agboola.

The former MFM usher added that he was prosecuted in 2008 without any concrete evidence to prove the allegation against him.

Addressing journalists on Friday, the Chief Legal Adviser of the church, Davidson Adejuwon, said the duo had created some misconceptions among a section of the public.

He added that their claims of being locked up in jail for nine years for an offence they did not commit was false, mischievous and cruel.

He said, “Let me quickly and briefly address some of the lies being told to the public on this issue which has created some misconceptions among a section of the public.

“One of them is that MFM as a church and its General Overseer, Dr Daniel Olukoya, have no forgiving spirit. Mr Femi Jimoh is a perfect case study to prove that MFM as a church and its General Overseer are unrepentant forgivers.”

Adejuwon further explained that the General Overseer did not keep the duo in jail for nine years despite the plea from Jimoh’s mother.

He added that they were granted bail but failed to perfect their bail conditions.

He said, “Is it not curious to push a narrative that Dr Olukoya, the General Overseer, locked them up when all members of their family refused to get two individuals for nine years to stand as their sureties for them to be released? Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries is a responsible church that takes the welfare, safety and security of all its members very seriously.

“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.

“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.”

Adejuwon remarked that all other events that transpired thereafter at the police station and during the trial were completely out of the control of the church because being a criminal matter, it became a case between the state and the defendants.

Reacting to claims that the arrest followed Jimoh’s contact with the then Chief Security Officer of the church, Olawale Gbadamosi, at a herbalist’s place at Ogbomosho in Oyo State, Adejuwon said, “It is absurd to imagine that a church a big as MFM will go so low to frame up two of its pastors just because of claim (which is false) that a CSO of the church was seen in a herbalist house.”

Gbadamosi, who was present at the briefing described the claim as untrue, adding, “I want to say before man and God that I have never set foot there to see any herbalist.”

Narrating how Jimoh and Caleb allegedly approached him for the operation, one of the three individuals, Akeem Omojomolo, said they planned to execute it in February.

Omojomolo also explained how they allegedly planned to trail the offering from the campground to the headquarters before striking.