After nine-year detention, legal dispute with church, former MFM Pastor Femi Jimoh reportedly dies

Former Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries pastor Femi Jimoh has died after battling serious health problems reportedly linked to years of detention and an alleged gunshot wound to his leg, reviving intense public debate about his nine-year incarceration and subsequent acquittal.

As reported by Sahara Reporters, citing UK-based blogger Maureen Badejo, Jimoh became widely known after a 2024 Yoruba Gidi TV interview in which he alleged he spent approximately nine years in custody without trial following an encounter with MFM’s then Chief Security Officer at a native doctor’s residence.

Jimoh alleged torture, detention in a vehicle boot and being shot in the leg by a DPO. A Lagos State High Court acquitted him and two co-defendants in July 2016, ruling the prosecution failed to establish conspiracy to rob MFM beyond reasonable doubt.

MFM denied wrongdoing, maintaining Jimoh’s prolonged detention resulted from unclaimed bail rather than church interference. The competing accounts remain unresolved.