Our source gathered that the death of the man angered the youths in
the area who stormed the church with dangerous weapons, destroying its
properties, including musical instruments, electrical appliances and
vehicles parked in the premises.
The father of the deceased, Pa Erase Ekhator, lamented that the deceased visited him the previous day to
inform him he was attending a deliverance in the church, that he quickly obliged him the request.
He said confusion, however, enveloped the deliverance when he heard the deceased crying out for help.
“They forced him and tied both his legs and hands, carried a bucket
full of water and poured it on his body. The mother asked why and they
said that it is what they usually do to calm him down after struggling
for five minutes, only for Osanyade to die in the church,’’ the deceased
father said in anguish.
Sister of the deceased, Mrs Omoregie Osas, who suspected foul play in
the death of his late brother, alleged that they beat him to death
because the cloth he was putting on was pulled off and they wore him
another one.”
But reacting to the allegation, the resident Pastor of the Church,
Mrs Isoken Okudaye, and a church member who claimed he witnessed what
happened, said the victim who they claimed was violent during the
deliverance, accidentally hit his head on a nearby generating set and
died.
Pastor Okudaye said:
“We have been taking care of his father without any money; we don’t
kill, beat or destroy souls here. If they bring people with insanity
here, we heal them.”
An eyewitness told newsmen:
“When we heard that somebody died there, we all ran to the church to
know what happened, but some angry youths started destroying the altar
and everything in the church. We had to escape from the scene so that we
won’t be attacked.”
Reacting to the development, Edo State Police Public Relations
Officer, DSP Steve Onwunchie, who confirmed the incident, said the
police had commenced investigation into the matter, adding that the
findings would be made public at the appropriate time.
