Murder in the cathedral: How Church worker killed pastor over woman
THE altar, considered a sacred place where priests offer prayers, turned into a slaughter slab at Grace of Comfort Parish of the Celestial Church of Christ, Ile-Ife in Osun State.
It was not just an ordinary person that was allegedly killed on the sacred platform, but the shepherd of the church, Most Senior Evangelist Morris Fadehan by his assistant, Lekan Ogundipe, following several disagreements between them.
Ogundipe was said to have laid ambush within the church premises and unleashed terror on his victim while the deceased bowed and prayed on the altar.
He allegedly stabbed him in the head several times, hit a nail through his ear and nose before dragging the lifeless body out of the altar, wrapped it with clothes and set it on fire.
Ogundipe while allegedly perpetrating his crime also sustained injuries on his hand while the deceased, during the struggle, scratched him severely on the face.
Woman, money palava
It was gathered that the church’s shepherd had on many occasions complained about Ogundipe’s attitude, especially money and immorality, and had vowed to stop him from assisting him but not without getting the approval of the church’s elders.
Speaking while receiving a delegation from the national headquarters, Pa Olafare, said to own the church, explained how the incident happened.
Olafare said: “The deceased had reported to me that he was to disengage Lekan (the suspect) as his assistant over many unlawful acts. Most recent of them includes an assault on a prophetess in the church last Wednesday, and I agreed with him, but he added that he will take the decision after consulting with the elders.”
Many unlawful acts
Ogundipe was also said to have assaulted Ewan, a prophetess in the church.
The mother of two was reportedly angry with Ogundipe for claiming to be in a false relationship with the lady.
Ewa said: “Last Wednesday morning after Ogundipe had opened the church, I decided to sweep the floor when he started talking to me but I refused to respond.
“He then started harassing me. I quickly told him to stay away from me and that he should stop telling people we are dating because I was not having any intimate relationship with him besides Church issues. Rather than stop, he beat me with a cane which resulted in a fistfight until an elderly woman had to wade in and rescue me from his grip.
“Afterwards, the shepherd came around, heard the incident and scolded him for involving himself in such a mess. He even threatened to kill me before he was asked to leave the church area.”
Following the incident, it was gathered that the shepherd collected the church’s key from him, an incident that did not go well with Ogundipe.
Reporting the ugly incident
However, penultimate Monday, after Ogundipe had allegedly perpetrated the crime inside the church without being detected, he quickly went to Pa Olafare’s house to report that he met the shepherd’s body on the floor burning.
His words: “While I was about eating on Monday evening, one Lekan came to the house and told me the deceased body was on fire and that he was lifeless on the floor. My wife and I drove to the church with him where we found the deceased partly burnt inside the church.
“Other members of the church within the vicinity were also attracted to the scene. While inspecting the church vicinity, we discovered blood stains on different parts of his body and cuts. When we asked Lekan about the blood stains, he attempted to run but we grabbed him and locked him in my car before calling in the police.
“We unwrapped the deceased pastor’s body and discovered that there were nails in his ear and several cuts on the head and neck before we took the body to the morgue at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital in Ile-Ife.
“Meanwhile, Lekan later confessed to the police that he perpetrated the crime because of a dispute with the deceased.”
We’re carrying out further investigation —Police
Meanwhile, the Osun State Police Command Spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, said the suspect is in police custody for further investigation.
She said police upon getting to the scene found the deceased’s body in its pool of blood, saying: “Marks of violence were discovered on the corpse, we took photographs and the body was taken to Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, OAUTH, for autopsy.”
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