 |
| Late Mrs Eunice |
The husband of a female preacher hacked to death in
Abuja has shed more light into the gruesome murder of the 42 year-old mother of
seven, Mrs. Eunice Elisha, the wife of a Redeemed Pastor who was murdered in
cold blood in the early hour of Saturday July 9th by suspected Muslim fanatics
while evangelizing around Gbazango and Pipeline area of Kubwa, a satellite town
in Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Eunice, who was a deaconess at the Divine Touch Parish of the
Redeemed Christian Church of God, Old NEPA Road, Phase 4, Kubwa, was reportedly
beheaded and stabbed in the stomach and leg by her killers, but a statement by
the police has already debunked that claim.It was learnt that her killers left her in the pool of her
blood and carefully put her "severed head on her Bible, with megaphone and
cell phone beside her dead body" but the Commissioner of Police in a
statement said her body was intact.
Her body was discovered by the residents who alerted
the police and evacuated her to the police station where her husband went to identify
her. The husband of the deceased, Pastor Olawale Elisha while narrating the
blow-by-blow account of the incident to journalists when the wife of Vice
President, Dolapo Osinbajo paid a condolence visit, said that his wife had gone
out to preach in the neighbourhood at about 5 am only for him to hear
the report of her murder.
 |
| Mrs Dolapo Osibanjo with one of the daughters |
According to him, "She goes out every morning for
"Morning Cry" (Evangelism), which means when she wakes up in the
morning, she takes her megaphone and preaches around the neighborhood."On Saturday she went out the same time,
around 6:30 am, two of my children used to go out to play football at a
field close to the house, but my children came back and told me that they heard
some footballers saying that a woman preaching this morning was killed, and her
megaphone was still there, that they cut her head and her legs."
"I told my children that it couldn't be their mother, but they insisted we
should go there and check, I put on my clothes and went there when we got
there, we didn't see anybody, they had even covered her blood with sand.""However, a policeman confirmed to me that such incident
happened, and the remains of the woman had been taken to Phase 4 Police
Station, Kubwa."I rushed to my house and drove to the police station with two of my
children, and at the entrance of the station I saw a pickup van coming out,
inside it I saw the lifeless body of my wife at the back of the pickup Van, at
this point, my children and I burst into tears."
Pastor Olawale expressed shock over the death of his wife and what might have
been the reason for her murder. He said that his wife had no quarrel with
anyone that could have warranted her murder, describing her as a martyr.He recalled a day his wife told him that there is a mosque at the back of their
house where the head of the mosque made a remark that her preaching wasn't
saying the truth about God. That he cautioned to be very careful.
He also narrated another incident of a Muslim cleric who came to their house
and asked his wife to give him food that he had an Islamic school and needed
food, but my wife told him that she does not have any food at home, and the
Mallam left.The story was also corroborated by the second son of the
deceased, John James, who said that his mother asked him to tell the strange
Mallam that they don't have food.James revealed further that few days after the Mallam came to
their house, his mother and himself took ill and almost died. He said
that her mother kept emphasising that the strange Mallam caused their illness.The wife of the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church
of God (RCCG), Folu Adeboye on Sunday also paid a condolence visit to the
family of deceased.
During her visit Pastor Elisha said his wife was so committed to anything
that is of God and that she was a "reckless giver to God’s work, she
rarely missed any program in the church. We have seven children,” he stated.
 |
| husband of the deceased |
The Divisional Police Officer, as well as the Divisional Crime Officer at Phase
4 Police Station, declined comment on the matter the duo referred journalists
to the FCT command for any information as they claimed the case had been
transferred to homicide department of the FCT Command.According to a press release by the Commissioner of Police
FCT Command, Alkali Baba Usman the police has ordered the Deputy Commissioner
of Police, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (CIID)to lead an
investigation into the murder case.
Six (6) suspects arrested in connection with the gruesome
murder of Mrs. Elisha are in Police custody and currently undergoing
interrogation. He assured that the outcome of the investigation would be made
public.
The CP commiserated with the family members of the deceased
over the unfortunate incident and assured them and other residents of the area
of the commitment and determination of the police command to fish out
perpetrators of the heinous crime and bring them to justice.
He also seized the opportunity to enjoin residents and
members of the general public to remain calm and cooperate with Police in
the ongoing investigation.
The CP's statement dispelled the report in some sections of
the media that the deceased’s head and leg was chopped off.
"The Command wants to state that apart from marks of
injury inflicted on some parts of her body, all parts of the deceased body are
intact. The Police has taken custody of her remains for preservation and
examination", the statement concluded.
As at the time of filing this story those scavengers living
in shanties near the scene of the incident have fled as many of them were
seeing carrying their belongings for fear of arrest by the police or reprisal
attacks.
No comments:
Post a Comment