Pastor Must Offer Sacrifices For Killing Snake – Anambra Community

An altercation has ensued between members of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, and Umuoji community in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State over the killing of a snake in the community by the Overseer of the Mercy Throne Assembly, Umuoji, Rev Jude Chubueze.

The community believes Chibueze had desecrated the land by killing the snake, as snake killing in the area is a taboo, and they had gone ahead to seal his church with palm fronds.

The matter has been taken to the Anambra State Police command which is trying to mediate between the two parties to avoid a breakdown of law and order, and assure a peaceful resolution to it.

Reacting on the issue, members of PFN under the aegis of Umuoji Gospel Ministries Fellowship led by Pastor Celestine Ekpunobi, yesterday, described the tradition that forbids the killing of snake as barbaric, adding that such law should only concern the pagans.

Rev Chibueze said a snake stormed his house at night when members of his family were already sleeping. He said he heard his children screaming and rushed there to find a snake where his children had been sleeping.

“When I got to their room, I saw a big snake lying with them and I had to kill it and threw it into the nearby bush. The following day, some community members marched to my house and accused me of killing their god. They beat me up mercilessly.

“They wrote a list of items amounting to N54,890 which they said I should buy to appease their god. Being a Christian, I told them that it is against my faith and more over, I killed a snake and not a human being.”

One of the community leaders, Chief Paul Edekobi said, instead of the pastor doing what he earlier agreed to do with the community by providing the items, he dragged them to Ogidi Police Station where six of the community leaders were arrested.

The Chief threatened that what he did was capable of wiping out his entire family if sacrifices were not made to appease the gods.

“We do not want to destroy his property and that is why we used the palm fronts to tie round the church to stop him from worshipping there for now,” Edekobi said.

But the pastor said: “What they are talking about is not tradition; they see the killing of a snake as a taboo in their world of idol worshipping and not same in Christian faith

“If they do not desist from this act, our next port of call will be the court for the enforcement of our fundamental human rights.”

Police Kill Pastor, Nab Gang Members For Robbery

The Police in Cross River State on Saturday killed a pastor in Akamkpa Local Government of the state, identified as John on suspicion of being an armed robber.

Three other suspected gang members were also arrested after a fierce gun duel that lasted into the night.

The pastor and his gang were alleged to have raided some buildings in the residential quarters of lecturers of the Cross River College of Education on Saturday, dispossessing their victims of money and valuables.

PUNCH Metro learnt on Sunday that after the robbery operation, the gang converged on a drinking spot, not more than three kilometres from the scene of the robbery, to share their loot.

In the process of sharing their loot, according to a commercial motorcyclist who witnessed the scene, Mr. Dennis Egom, someone informed the police who immediately swooped on them and a gun battle ensued.

“When the police came there was an exchange of gun fire and one of them was killed, one escaped while three were arrested,” Egom said.

The pastor, Egom said, was well known in the area and was thought to be a real man of God until the incident.

“He got born again some years ago and was carrying Bible to preach to people and soon became a pastor in the church (name withheld) in 2011. But unknown to some of us who knew him as well as his followers and other residents, John was an armed robber whose real identity was revealed the day he was killed,” he said.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. John Umoh, confirmed the incident.

He said, “The police in Akamkpa had a gun battle with some robbers who robbed some academic doctors teaching at the College of Education in Akamkpa and one of them died as a result of bullet wounds, while three others who were arrested are now in our custody.”

Umoh said efforts were being intensified to apprehend the other members of the gang that escape, adding “we are making effort to arrest the one on the run and to bring him to justice.”

Pastor Commissions Man To Behead Corpse For N6000

        
A man simply identified as Iku Monday by residents of Sabo area of Abeokuta, Ogun State, is still being quizzed by the police for allegedly beheading dead woman (names withheld) after exhuming her corpse from a grave in her husband’s building site. Checks by Sunday Sun revealed that on August 18 this year, Mr. Abiodun, husband of Monday’s victim, contracted Monday to clear a plot of land belonging to him on the outskirts of Sabo for a fee.


On the site was a grave of his (Abiodun’s) second wife, who died recently of complications following delivery of her baby. Sunday Sun also authoritatively gathered that trouble started when a resident simply identified as Mr. Akpan allegedly spotted Iku Monday while exhuming and beheading the corpse of the dead woman. Akpan then raised the alarm, alerting the neighbourhood of the dastardly act by Monday and in no time a crowd gathered to ‘arrest’ Monday.

They reportedly swooped on him but he escaped. The mob gave a hot chase and eventually caught and stripped him naked, clubbing the daylight out of him, while demanding an explanation for desecrating act. After much battering, Monday allegedly confessed that he was commissioned by a white garment pastor (names withheld), who owns a “mission house” in a village called Oloomore in Ayetoro area of Abeokuta. He alleged that the said cleric gave him N6,000 to get him the head of a dead person.  His words, “Please, be lenient with me.

I was asked to do this by a white garment cleric. He paid me N6,000 for the job. I have been searching for a corpse’s head before Mr. Abiodun contracted me to clear this site, and when I discovered a grave on the site, and was sure it was recently dug, I decided to exhume the corpse and behead her. I didn’t know it was Oga Abiodun’s wife.  If you spare my life, I will take you to the cleric, but not in this naked condition, I would have to put on my clothes so the cleric will recognize me.” As others were bent on lynching Monday, elders intervened and pleaded with the mob to allow Monday lead them to the cleric.

Iku Monday then took the mob to the outskirts of Sabo, a place called Oloomore, on Sanni Road in Ayetoro area of Ogun State. On getting to the cleric’s place, a drama first played out in the shanty that could only be described as a pigsty. Persons suspected to be worshippers or members of a religious sect promptly took to their heels as soon as they spotted a crowd approaching with Iku Monday.

The makeshift shanty has no proper roofing, only a brownish mosquito net hung over it. There was no furniture of any kind to give the place the appearance of a ‘home’.   Sunday Sun discovered fetish materials such as the horns of a ram wrapped with red and black clothes, carved wooden images of a man and woman tied together with sacks, and a cock in a basket with its legs bound. These and many other items hard to describe in print were found in the place.

The cleric denied Monday’s allegation, saying he had never set eyes on him before. His words, “He is a liar o. I don’t know him from Adam. He is an agent of the devil brought to destroy my ministry. They have failed spiritually, now they are combating me physically.” But residents of Ayetoro, especially the cleric’s neighbours, told Sunday Sun they had always suspected the cleric.

“When he first came to this place, he always carried one fetish sacrifice or the other to three-way junctions in this area. We have often wondered if he is truly a man of God as he professes. How can a man of God be involved in fetish things?” Elder Kasumu, a resident of the area, said. Unmoved by the ‘pastor’s denial, the mob took Monday and his ‘client’ to the Sabo Police Station to face the law.

Pastor Flees After Raping And Impregnating Disabled Church Member

Powerlessness and silence move hand-in-hand. While many women in her position would have chosen silence as the solution - considering that it is often classified as golden - Kudakwashe Mutongwizo chose to speak out.

Raped by her pastor on March 10 2012, the expecting mother said she was hopeful she would deliver a normal child despite the circumstances surrounding her pregnancy. Born 25 years ago in a family of six in Chitandara Village, Zimbabwe, under Chief Chihota, the young woman has been disabled since birth, but prefers to be described as "not so able-bodied".

Mutongwizo had a difficult childhood. She recalls: "I was never at ease with other children my age. They would either shun or mock me because I could not run around like they did."

During high school years at Jairos Jiri Centre for the Disabled, she was shocked by the extent to which disabled young women faced sexual and reproductive health challenges. She invested her trust in a man of the cloth in ZAOGA Church's Chitandara Circuit.

"At first I thought as a deacon, he was a man of God with sincere intentions," she said. "He would push my wheelchair whenever I met him and I began feeling at ease in his presence." Mutongwizo said.

The day she was raped, the deacon visited her homestead and asked that she accompany him to the shops, about 2km away.

"The deacon was the closest to a friend to me because we went to church together and he had become like part of our family, as he was also a neighbour. We joked and laughed as usual all the way to the shops," she said.

She said the deacon suddenly changed his behaviour and diverted the route to a secluded area where he lifted her off her wheelchair, tore her undergarments and forced himself on her.

When they returned home, the pastor confessed his sin to Mutongwizo's sister and they agreed to keep the matter under wraps. Four months later, her 72-year-old father noticed she was pregnant and when she spilled the beans, he confronted the pastor, who acknowledged responsibility. He assured the family he would take care of his daughter and pay "damages" for the violation.

The father (name withheld) said: "Since the matter had been discussed at the traditional court, the family assumed that the deacon would honour his side of the deal and take care of my daughter."

The pastor fled the area and is currently on the run. He is on the police "Wanted" list and is believed to be hiding in South Africa. His mother and relatives, however, claimed she was responsible for her misery because their son would never abuse a disabled woman.

Wife fights husband (who is a pastor) for watching "Blue Movies"

Kolade Adeleke who is the Senior Pastor of Christ Army Prayer Ministry in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, has asked a Customary Court to dissolve his 12-year-old marriage with his wife, Roseline, on the ground of frequent fighting.

However wife, Roseline said she was forced to fight because of some attitudinal changes in her husband toward her.
She accused her husband of frequently watching of pornography films, as well as intention to marry another lady in the church “who has been looking for a husband for years”.

Adeleke on the other hand,  accused his wife of constituting a nuisance both at home and in the church; especially because she was also fond of fighting him, even in the public.

He, however, urged the court to grant him the custody of their three children.

Roseline told the court that due to the crisis, she and her husband had not been staying together for the last three months.

She tendered evidence to prove that she sponsored the establishment of the church to the court and said her husband could not leave after all what she had done for him. “After all I have done for my husband, he cannot just decide now to leave me and take away our three children,” she said.

Adeleke, however, did not deny the allegations but urged the court to use its discretion in judging the matter.

The President of the Court, Olatunji Kanimodo, reserved ruling on the matter till April 23.