Popular Nigerian pastor commits suicide, after smashing wife’s head

A popular Nigerian evangelist, Abidemi Odukoya, the Shepherd-in-Charge of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) Iri Orun Parish, Akiode Ibogun, Ogun State, has ended his own life after a domestic dispute with his wife, Adenike, went sour.

TheNewsGuru reports that the couple had engaged in a violent physical altercation, and the clergyman, in the heat of the moment, smashed his wife’s head on the wall and fled.

The couple had also been reported to be having issues and domestic disputes since December last year, in which family members and friends tried to intervene, but to no avail.

According to reports, the couple’s son had to run out to call neighbours for help, but when neighbours got to the scene, they found Adenike in a pool of her own bl00d with her head swollen, as she gasped for breath.

They tried to get a car in order to rush her to the hospital, but no car was available. She eventually passed away.

Odukoya, a father of three boys, was said to have fled the community afterwards and allegedly took his own life along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

The incident reportedly occurred at about 2 am.

Reacting, the Baale of Akiode community, Chief Taiwo Akiode, expressed shock, saying the couple had lived among residents for nearly a decade without giving him reason to expect such a tragedy.

He said, “This unfortunate incident is the first of its kind in this environment. It is a tragedy of monumental proportion that no one saw coming.

“Since over nine or 10 years that they have been living with us, you don’t get to hear that the couple are troublesome or quarrelsome.”

The community leader said the circumstances of their deaths had left residents bewildered because the couple appeared to have maintained a cordial relationship publicly.

Akiode said his first indication that something was wrong came at about 3 am when residents arrived at his home to report the alleged attack.

The residents had earlier contacted the police and were later asked to notify the community’s traditional leadership.

“I was told that the Shepherd had killed his wife, that he macheted her. I could not believe my ears until we got to their residence and met the woman in a pool of her blood,” he said.

Akiode said there appeared to be injuries consistent with a machete attack, while a stool allegedly used during the altercation was also found at the scene.

Police officers later visited and documented the scene, but Odukoya could not be found.

“At that point,” Akiode said, residents believed the shepherd had fled after realising the gravity of what had happened.

Shepherd Found Dead On Expressway

Reports say the evangelist had ended his life at Ifo, along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

The traditional ruler said some residents were dispatched to verify the information before police in Ifo took over the matter.

According to accounts received by the community leader, Odukoya was seen repeatedly crossing the highway before sitting on the median.

“Some people at Ifo told us that when the deceased got to the expressway, he was crossing the expressway back and forth repeatedly. He later sat on the divider, after which he saw an oncoming truck and jumped before it and died,” he said.

The wife was buried at about 5 pm, while Odukoya’s remains arrived later after police documentation and were interred beside hers after 7 pm.

While some community leaders said they were unaware of serious marital problems between the couple, a neighbour, Mrs Oluwatoyin Oseni, painted a different picture.

Oseni alleged that the couple had been involved in repeated domestic disputes, with one recent confrontation requiring her to assist the wife afterwards.

“Sincerely, Mummy Daniel and her husband, whom we fondly called Iri Orun, have always engaged in domestic fights. Recently, I had to help take care of the wife after their usual fight,” she said.

She added that the police had previously intervened in one disagreement, leading neighbours to believe the crisis had been resolved.

Oseni claimed residents only learnt after the deaths that the couple had reportedly not been on speaking terms since June.

According to Oseni, the couple’s 14-year-old first child, Daniel, raised the alarm at about 2 am.

She said she and another neighbour rushed to the residence after the teenager told them his father had attacked his mother.

Oseni said, “By the time myself and one other neighbour got to the residence of the couple, we discovered the lifeless body of Mummy Daniel with a broken head, all covered in blood, on the floor.

“As I was asking him why he would go to the extent of killing his wife, he calmly said that he too was as good as gone. But because he was holding the cutlass, we could not move closer.”

According to her, Odukoya later entered the house, leaving the neighbours unaware that he had subsequently left the community.

The community youth leader, Seun Adelana, said residents had heard allegations that mutual suspicions of infidelity contributed to the couple’s marital crisis.

“Allegations of infidelity from both the husband and wife were said to have been the major reason responsible for this sad event,” Adelana said.

He claimed Odukoya suspected his wife of having another relationship, while some residents also alleged that the shepherd was involved with another woman.