The Christ Apostolic Church, Sanctuary of Blessing, in the Iju Ishaga area of Lagos State was thrown into mourning when the Pastor in charge, Pastor Ibukun Adeyinka was murdered by a gang of four around 3 am on the 30th of May, 2017.
The gang murdered the Pastor after they had broken into his house which was situated in the church premises.
They, however, did not leave with any property of the church as they immediately scaled the fence of the church and fled.
The cleric’s wife of 20 years, Mrs. Olasunbo Adeyinka, said the hoodlums struck around 3am on May 30, 2017, adding that they did not say anything throughout the period of the attack.
She said, “We were asleep when they entered the church. They came to our house and we didn’t know anything was happening until we heard a sound like something was falling. There was a power outage, so we couldn’t see clearly. My husband was the first to wake up. They broke into the house through the front door.
“They didn’t say anything to us even as we asked what they wanted from us. I just heard my husband shouting, ‘In Jesus name’. I also re-echoed it, saying ‘Amen, in Jesus name.’ I never knew they had stabbed him in the chest.
“They left by scaling the church’s fence. I saw that my husband had become weak. That was when I knew that they had stabbed him. There was a lot of blood in the room.”
She said together with some relatives and church members, Ibukun was rushed to a private hospital in the community, from where the Ile-Ife, Osun State indigene was referred to LASUTH, Ikeja, where he was pronounced dead.
Olasumbo said although she gathered that her husband died around 7am, she was not informed until around 2pm.
Asked if the men were robbers or assassins, the mother of three said she could not tell because the suspects did not say anything.
“They didn’t take anything. Up till now, I can’t say who they are and why they did what they did. He had a lot of ministerial assignments in June, which will now be on hold. It is painful,” she added.
However, a nurse, Amah Eze, who posted about the incident on Facebook, alleged that the hoodlums were absconding after a robbery operation when they took the church as an escape route.
She said, “He was always ringing a bell at 12 midnight for prayers. So humble that whenever he greeted a small girl like me, he always bowed down. Only for absconding thieves to run into his church while he was praying as usual, and cut him with a machete. That’s how he met his death; but God knows best.”
Our correspondent was told that the case had been reported at the Iju Police Division.