Tragedy struck in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, last week as people suspected to be hired assassins allegedly macheted a female Christian cleric, Evangelist Odeniran Motunrayo Ayoade, to death at her residence.
Odeniran, a mother of three, who was the founder and spiritual head of the Land of Goshen Interdenominational Prayer City located at Adelubi village, Ogbaagba, Agodo area, Owode-Ede in Osun State, retired last year as the paid mistress at the Bureau of Special Duties, Office of the Governor of Osun State.
Since her retirement from active civil service, Mrs Odeniran who started her ministry many years ago was involved in aggressive evangelism within and outside the state.
The Sun reports that the late cleric had travelled on evangelism for some days and returned home on the penultimate Saturday to prepare for Sunday service, not knowing that the evil-doers had arranged something different for her as she eventually met her untimely death in the hands of men of the underworld on that fateful day.
The deceased, who was until her death a widow, was the only person living at her residence located at Number 4, Irewumi Street, Aroko Estate, Ogo Oluwa, as her three children are already married and live in separate places with two of them outside the country.
The first child of the deceased, Odeniran Abiodun, an engineer, who is the only child of the late cleric living in the state, went to check on her mother last Monday when all efforts to reach her on the phone failed, only to find her mother in the pool of her blood.
Narrating the ugly incident, Engr. Odeniran told Sunday Sun that the 61-year-old woman had gone on evangelism and returned on that Saturday, but she could not be reached on her mobile phones, a situation that prompted him to visit her on Monday, but only to find her dead body.
He said: “We are aware that she travelled and she told us that she returned home on Saturday. We expected her in church on Sunday, but we didn’t see her, believing that she was tired as a result of her long trip. We also tried to call her, but her two lines were off, and that was why I decided to call someone to help me check on her at home.
“The person I sent to check on her later called me and when I got to her house we noticed that the door was closed when we entered we saw her in the pool of her blood with machete cuts on her head.
“I could not hold the situation when I saw my mother’s lifeless body lying helplessly on the floor in the kitchen. Her head was macheted in seven different places and there were machete cuts on other parts of her body. We called the police and police officers from the Ataoja police division came around. The corpse was thereafter taken to the UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital morgue.”
The deceased’s son said that his late mother was not involved in any kind of misunderstanding with any individual, adding that he was not aware of any issue she had with anybody, adding that his late mum was quiet, calm, kind and easygoing.
The deceased who worked in the office of the state Accountant General before her retirement last year worked with former Governors Rauf Aregbesola and Gboyega Oyetola, even as she worked briefly with the current governor of the state, Senator Ademola Nurudeen Adeleke before her retirement.
It was learnt that the deceased retired at the Bureau of Special Duties in the office of the Governor as the pay officer in charge of the bureau.
Findings revealed that the suspected assailants did not cart away anything from the deceased’s residence as all her belongings, including her cars and church bus, were intact.
However, the two phones of the deceased cleric were carted away and the lines have since been switched off as the two lines could not be reached till the time of filing this report.
When Sunday Sun visited the residence of the deceased, scores of sympathisers were seen crying and wailing, with many of them raining curses on the killers of the cleric whom many of them described as faithful Christians and their helpers.
Many of the sympathisers said the deceased was a lover of the people who were always willing to assist those around her and thereby expressed worry about what could lead to her killing.
It was also gathered that the deceased’s church has worn a mournful look since the untimely death of the founder with members praying to God to expose the killers of their late pastor who was killed untimely.
The son of the deceased who informed that the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) of the Osun State Command of the Nigeria Police Force is already investigating the matter, disclosed that many individuals, including church members, neighbours and himself had been invited for interrogation by the police.
Although no arrest has been made in connection with the incident, the bereaved family said the police are already investigating the matter and expressed confidence in the ability of the state police command with the assistance of other sister security agencies to unravel those who perpetrated the dastardly act.
The gruesome murder of the female cleric has, however, continued to bring to question the validity of the security system in Osun State and the country at large.
