All hell broke loose in a village in Cross Rivers State earlier this week when a pastor was stabbed to death by a female church member after he allegedly tried to rape her under the pretext of performing deliverance on her.
Pastor Oliver Akpan was a man who had been suspected of having carnal knowledge of some female church members in the past but the allegations could not be confirmed.
The father of six however apparently met his waterloo in a church member called Ekamma who had come to him complaining of spiritual problems.
The pastor was said to have told the lady, a mother of two, she would have to go through a three-day dry fasting programme, at the conclusion of which she would have to take a bath to ward off the evil spirit troubling her.
The fasting was to be held in the church, but the spiritual bath was fixed for another location, a local stream nearby.
According to reports, after the conclusion of the fast, Pastor Akpan reportedly took the lady to the stream for the said bath but told her just before its commencement that he must also have carnal knowledge of her to complete the deliverance process.
This was said to have infuriated the lady who sensed foul play by the man of God and resisted his advances.
A struggle then ensued as he tried to force himself on her during which she grabbed the first item she could lay her hands on, which turned out to be a sharp stick, and stabbed him on the chest.
After she was able to break free from his hold, she reportedly dashed to the village to report the incident, causing villagers to rush to the scene.
By the time the villagers got there, the pastor had lost a lot of blood and slipped into unconsciousness. He was then rushed to the hospital where he was confirmed dead.
The suspect was picked up by the police but was later released on bail pending the conclusion of investigations.