A middle-aged man has died in a Pentecostal church in Edo State where he had gone for deliverance following perceived ‘spiritual problem’ that bordered on insanity while the church pastor has been arrested.
The deceased, Osayande Ekhator(his dead body pictured lying in a car at the church premises) had gotten approval from his father to attend deliverance service at Hope Ministry a.k.a Holy Ghost Deliverance Centre at Okwanga Street around Uselu Quarters in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State on Monday.
But the second day into the prayers for Osayande’s deliverance, tragedy struck when the 45-year-old due to physical injury died in the church on Tuesday.
Controversy has trailed Osayande’s death with his family claiming he was killed by the church while the church said he hit his head on a generator.
The father of the deceased, Pa Ekhator, said he had suspected that the deliverance session had gone wrong when his son was thrown to the ground, with his hands and legs tied.
He said, “They forced him and tied him as usual and threw him down. From there, they carried a bucket full of water and poured it on his body.
“The mother asked why. They said that is what they usually do; that after struggling, they wanted him to have rest and cool down. After about five minutes, she came crying that Osayande is dead.”
But the sister of the deceased alleged that he was “beaten to death” by his deliverers, who had also planned to deposit his remains in a mortuary.
Aggrieved at the circumstance that led to Osayande’s death, some angry youths stormed the church in annoyance and vandalised valuable property on the day the incident happened.
Our findings revealed that the church among others touts itself as a psychiatric nursing home, and not a few people with mental illness are taken to the church by their families.
It was gathered that the church’s way of dealing with mental case is to tie sufferer’s hands and legs and subject him or her to physical assault.