Tragic deaths of Ogun pastor and wife linked to domestic fight

A pastor from the Celestial Church of Christ, Abidemi Odukoya, and his wife, Adenike, have died under tragic circumstances after an alleged fight at their home in the Akinode/Ibogun community, Ogun State.

Reports say the incident happened in the early hours of Monday, August 25. The couple reportedly had a domestic quarrel that turned physical.

The fight left Adenike unconscious and hurt, while her husband apparently ran away from the house.

A former Chairman of the Community Development Association, Adejimi Olawumi, shared that he heard the cries for help from the residents. He found Adenike lying in a pool of blood.

Olawumi said, “It was around 1am when I heard my neighbours shouting, ‘thief, thief.’ On my way out, I saw Daniel. I asked him what happened, and he said it was his mum and dad. Then I went to call my neighbours to come out.

“Immediately, we got inside the house and saw the wife in a pool of blood. At that time, there were no vehicles to take her to the hospital.

“The son said he did not see what happened between his mum and dad because he was in the other room. So, we started calling people together.”

Olawumi added that members of the CDA noticed Odukoya was missing and began to look for him.

He said, “When we saw that we did not see the husband, everyone in the CDA came out to look for him everywhere. We called our area chairman to tell him about the incident.

“Later, we heard that Mr Abidemi had been hit by a car in Ifo. The police took him to the hospital, and we confirmed that he was the one. The CDA then started working on how to bring his remains home.

“We have never heard or seen something like this happen before. We only know that they fight sometimes and settle it among themselves.”

Meanwhile, the late pastor’s younger sister claimed in a video that the couple often had disagreements before their deaths.

She said they visited her around April after a prior fight, which was settled at a police station.

She said, “I have been hearing that they have been fighting for a while now. Around April, they came to my house. He explained everything about how he and his wife fought, and that it was at the police station they settled it.

“I only told them to be patient with each other because it is not right for a husband and wife to fight against each other. They had been fighting for a very long time, and people helped them settle it. And now we just heard that the husband and wife are dead.”

The sister mentioned that the family learned about the deaths after one sibling got a phone call. They made plans for the burial of the deceased.

Adenike was buried on the same day as the incident, while Odukoya was buried on Wednesday, September 2.

In videos shared online, some clerics were seen performing burial rites over Odukoya at an undisclosed place.

As of the time of this report, the exact details around their deaths remained unclear.

When contacted, Opeyemi Oluborode, the deputy spokesman for the state police command, confirmed the incident.

“The police is investigating the incident,” he said.