REDEEMED FEMALE PASTOR MURDERED IN ABUJA DURING MORNING EVANGELISM

• My wife died as a martyr for Jesus –Husband
• Police arrest suspects

A forty-two-year-old mother of seven and an assistant pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Mrs Eunice Elisha, was in the early hours of Saturday murdered by assailants, while preaching around Gbazango--West area of Kubwa in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Eunice, an indigene of Ekiti State, was a Deaconess at the Divine Touch Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Old NEPA Road, Phase 4, Kubwa, Abuja. Speaking to newsmen, the husband of the slain woman, Mr. Olawale Elisha, said his wife had gone out to preach
in the neighbourhood in her usual practice at about 5am on the fateful day only for him to hear the report of her murder.
Narrating the incident, he said: “My wife always goes out early in the morning on ‘Morning Cry’ to preach.

There was a particular day she went out and she told me that there is a mosque at the back where they commented about what she said. So, I just warned. This morning, she went around 5am and I was still in bed because we did night vigil which she participated for a while before she went to sleep because of the Morning Cry. Two of my boys are footballers;; so, they went to the field to play. When they came back, they told me that they heard some footballers saying that they butchered a woman preaching early this morning.”

He went further, “So, when I heard this, we trekked down in the shorts I was putting on. We didn’t
see anybody, but we saw blood on the ground. I asked a policeman around and he said it was true but that they had taken her to Phase 4 Police Station. I went to the station with my children and when we got there, I saw the lifeless body of my wife at the back of the police van.
From there, she was taken to the mortuary. The incident happened between 5am and 5:30am because she usu ally goes out 5am and comes back 6am.”

While eulogising his late wife, Olawale described Eunice as a devout Christian, who served God with everything she had. His words: “My wife was so committed to anything that is of God. She was a reckless giver to God’s work. She rarely missed any programme in church. Asked how he felt with the murder of his beloved wife, Olawale paused for a while before he could mutter some words saying: “I see her as a martyr who died for Christ. Whether the people are caught or not, they should forgive them.

My prayer is that if they can accept Christ it will be a gain for Christ.”
A neighbour, who did not want her name mentioned, said the deceased and her family packed into their personal building less than a year ago. She described the late Eunice as a friendly woman. Another resident of the area, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said though the community engaged the services of private guards, the effort was not enough.

According to him, the residents started facing security challenge when some boys who are mainly non-Nigerians began to settle in the area and building batchers as their hamlet.
Giving account of the incident, he said the woman screamed but could not be rescued before the attackers butchered her to death.

“She shouted Blood of Jesus! Blood of Jesus! She laid dead with her handset and the megaphone she used for the preaching. Really, the attack was an act of hatred and religious sentiment,” he said.
When Sunday Sun visited Kubwa Divisional Police Statation, Phase 4, the DPO was not around.

However, one of the senior officers, who confirmed the killing, said he was not authorized to speak.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the FCT, ASP Manzah Anjuguri, when contacted promised to release the details of the incident later. But as at the time of filling this report, the police PRO was yet to contact the reporter. He disclosed that the police had arrested some people in connection with the killing.

Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested some suspects in connection with the killing of the female preacher.
The FCT command’s spokesman, ASP Anjuguri Manzah confirmed the arrest. He said that the FTC Commissioner of Police, Mr Alkali Usman has directed the homicide section to take over the investigation.

“We have made some arrests and they are helping in our investigation.
“The commissioner of police has ordered the homicide section of the command to take over the investigation of the case,” he said.
The spokesman, however, did not mention the number of suspects arrested. He said personnel of the command had visited the scene of the incident and investigation had started.
Source: Sunday Sun