By Oge Okonkwo
A Celestial Church of Christ pastor in Ogun State has
allegedly killed his wife during a late-night domestic dispute before later
dying after reportedly throwing himself in front of a moving truck on the
Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
The incident, which happened around 2am on Monday, August
31, has left residents of Ogooluwa community, Akiode Ibogun, in Ifo Local
Government Area shocked.
The cleric, identified as Bidemi Odukoya, was the shepherd
of Celestial Church of Christ, Iri Orun Parish. He and his wife were parents to
three boys.
Residents said the couple had a history of domestic
disagreements, with some previous quarrels reportedly becoming violent and
resulting in injuries to the woman.
Oluwatoyin Oseni, a neighbour, said residents had previously
intervened in the couple’s disputes and that police had also become involved at
one point.
“Sincerely, Mummy Daniel and her husband, who we fondly
called Iri Orun, have always engaged in domestic fights,” Oseni said.
She said she had recently helped care for the woman
following another confrontation, adding that neighbours believed the
disagreement had eventually been resolved after police intervention.
However, Oseni said residents later learnt that the couple
had reportedly stopped speaking to each other since June following repeated
disagreements.
The latest confrontation began in the early hours of Monday,
when the couple’s 14-year-old first son, Daniel, raised the alarm after his
father allegedly attacked his mother.
Oseni said she and another neighbour rushed to the residence
after being alerted and found the woman lying lifeless on the ground with
severe injuries to her head.
“We later got to hear that the Shepherd used a machete and
wooden stool to smash the head of his wife,” she said.
The neighbour also said Odukoya was holding a cutlass when
residents arrived. When she questioned him about the alleged killing, he
reportedly responded calmly that he was also “as good as gone”.
Because he was armed, Oseni said the neighbours could not
approach him. Odukoya subsequently went into the house, leaving residents
unaware that he had allegedly left the community.
The circumstances surrounding the couple’s final argument
remained unclear, although community members linked it to allegations of
infidelity involving both parties.
Seun Adelana, the community’s youth leader, said residents
gathered that Odukoya had accused his wife of having a relationship with
another man.
He added that there were also claims that the pastor himself
was involved with another woman, although the allegations had not been
independently established.
“This is what we gathered led to the altercation, which made
the husband kill the woman,” Adelana said.
After leaving the community, Odukoya reportedly made his way
to the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in Ifo, where witnesses said he appeared to
deliberately place himself in the path of traffic.
Taiwo Akiode, the community’s Baale, said people in Ifo
reported seeing the cleric repeatedly crossing the expressway before eventually
sitting on the road divider.
“He later sat on the divider, after which he saw an oncoming
truck and jumped before it and died,” Akiode said.
Police have since begun investigations into the
circumstances surrounding both deaths.
Opeyemi Oluborode, deputy police spokesperson in Ogun State,
said the Commissioner of Police had ordered a thorough investigation into the
road incident.
He said the matter had been transferred to the State
Criminal Investigation Department to establish what happened and determine the
circumstances surrounding the deaths.
The investigation is expected to clarify the sequence of
events, including the circumstances of the woman’s death, the pastor’s
movements afterwards and the reported allegations that preceded the fatal
confrontation.
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