A Celestial Church of Christ evangelist, Abidemi Odukoya, and his wife, Adenike, have reportedly died in separate circumstances following an alleged domestic altercation at their residence in the Akinode/Ibogun community, Ogun State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday, August 25, after the couple allegedly engaged in a domestic dispute that escalated into a physical confrontation.
The altercation reportedly left Adenike unconscious and injured, while her husband allegedly fled the residence.
A former Chairman of the Community Development Association, Adejimi Olawumi, said in a video shared by Arole TV on Wednesday that he was alerted by residents’ cries for help and subsequently found the woman lying in a pool of blood.
Olawumi said, “It was around 1am when I heard my neighbours shouting, ‘thief, thief.’ On my way out, I saw Daniel. I asked him what happened, and he said it was his mum and dad. Then I went to call my neighbours to come out.
“Immediately, we got inside the house and saw the wife in a pool of blood. At that time, there were no vehicles to take her to the hospital.
“The son said he did not see what happened between his mum and dad because he was in the other room. So, we started calling people together.”
Olawumi said members of the CDA subsequently noticed that Odukoya was missing and began searching for him.
According to him, they later learnt that the cleric had been hit by a vehicle in the Ifo area of the state.
He said, “When we saw that we did not see the husband, everyone in the CDA came out to look for him everywhere. We called our area chairman to tell him about the incident.
“Later, we heard that Mr Abidemi had been hit by a car in Ifo. The police took him to the hospital, and we confirmed that he was the one. The CDA then started working on how to bring his remains home.
“We have never heard or seen something like this happen before. We only know that they fight sometimes and settle it among themselves.”
Meanwhile, the late evangelist’s younger sister, in a video circulating online, claimed that the couple had been involved in repeated disagreements before their deaths.
She said the couple had visited her around April following an earlier altercation, adding that the matter was eventually resolved at a police station.
She said, “I have been hearing that they have been fighting for a while now. Around April, they came to my house. He explained everything about how he and his wife fought, and that it was at the police station they settled it.
“I only told them to be patient with each other because it is not right for a husband and wife to fight against each other. They had been fighting for a very long time, and people helped them settle it. And now we just heard that the husband and wife are dead.”
The woman said the family was informed of the incident after one of the siblings received a phone call, adding that arrangements were subsequently made for the remains of the deceased.
The wife was reportedly buried on the day of the incident, while Odukoya was buried on Wednesday, September 2.
In separate footage seen by PUNCH Metro on Wednesday, some clerics were seen performing burial rites over the remains of the evangelist at an undisclosed location.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths, however, remained unclear as of the time of filing this report.
When contacted on Wednesday, the deputy spokesman for the state police command, Opeyemi Oluborode, confirmed the incident.
“The police is investigating the incident,” he added.
Source: punchng.com
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