Police Arrest Female Pastor Over Worshiper’s Death During Deliverance

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines Thursday, July 9th, 2015

By IGNATIUS OKPARA – The entire Okwanga Street, Uselu Quarters in Egor Council Area of Edo State was on Tuesday thrown into tension, after a 45-year-old man, identified as Osayande Ekhator, died ‎during a prayer deliverance session in a Pentecostal church in the area.

AFRICAN EXAMINER gathered that the deceased was taken to the church, known as Hope Ministry, also known as Holy Ghost Deliverance Centre, by his family members on Monday, due to an undisclosed sickness.

Some residents of the area our Correspondent learnt, heard a loud cry from the church, and rushed to the place, only to discover the lifeless body of the late Ekhator in the church.

Youths of the area who were angered by the development were said to have ‎stormed the church and vandalised some valuable property.

A source who do not want to be quoted in the print had alleged that the deceased might have hit his head against a hard object while the deliverance was going on, as ‎there were blood stains on his head.

The source said: “I think he must have hit his head somewhere. I saw blood on his head ‎ when his body was placed in a vehicle,” the source stated.

Aged father of the deceased, simply identified as Pa Ekhator, said he had suspected that the deliverance session had gone wrong when his son was thrown to the ground, with his hands and legs tied.

According to him, “They forced ‎ him and tied him as usual and threw him down.

“From there, they carried a bucket full of water and poured it on his body.

“The mother asked why? They said that is what they usually do‎; that after struggling, they wanted him to have rest and cool down.

“After about five minutes, she came crying that Osayande is dead.”

But the sister of the deceased alleged that he was “beaten to death” by his deliverers, who had also planned to deposit his remains in a mortuary.

But the Resident Pastor of the church, Mrs. Isoken Ekundaye, denied the allegations.

She said: “We don’t kill here. We don’t beat here. If they bring insane people, we heal, them” Ekundaye said‎.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Stephen Onwochei,in his reaction, said the pastor has been arrested, adding that the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department CID for further investigation.