The Pastor and Spiritual Head of the Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide, His Eminence, Reverend Emmanuel Mobiyina Oshoffa, has sent a high powered delegation to the Nigeria Police Force as regards the arson and looting at the Celestial Church of Christ, Overcomers Parish, Oke-Ira Nla, Ajah Lagos, headed by Venerable Superior Evangelist James Godwin Aso.

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It would be recalled that an irate mob burnt down the Parish building and inflicted grievous bodily harm on the Shepherd, Assistant Shepherd and Secretary of the Parish, after the labourer contracted to evacuate the soak-away pit of the parish, fell into the pit and died in the process of the evacuation.

The rather unfortunate and tragic incident was followed by an uproar with many ignorantly and erroneously labelling the Parish Shepherd a ritualist and also bashing the name and image of the Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide.

The C.C.C. delegation was made up of Superior Evangelist Kayode Ajala (Secretary, Pastor in Council and Head of Media, C.C.C. W/w) and SVMSE Dayo Olofinlade , a lawyer and member of the Legal Committee of the Pastor in Council, C.C.C. W/w. They were accompanied by two members of the Media and Publicity Unit of the Pastor’s Office, Brother Olumide Bankole and Seunfunmi.

The delegation was received at the Langbasa Police Divisional Office by Superintendent Hakibu Damola, the Divisional Crime Officer and leader of the team that rescued VSE Aso James from the irate mob that burnt down the parish.

Superintendent Hakibu gave a detailed account of what transpired on the said day and concluded that it would be wrong of anyone to peddle the falsehood that the deceased labourer was killed for ritual purposes. He revealed that there was no sign of mutiliation whatsoever on the remains of the dead Hausa labourer, stating that the body was presently at the mortuary and an autopsy would reveal the true cause of death.

The Police Chief made it clear that the case would be transferred to the Homicide Section of the FCID Panti, Lagos, the following day, for further investigations.

Superior Evangelist Kayode Ajala commended the Nigeria Police for their prompt intervention and for rescuing the embattled Shepherd from the angry mob. He described the incident as painful, unfortunate and tragic, saying it was even more traumatic that a number of never-do-well have taken to the social media to label the burnt C.C.C. Parish as a ritualist den and to denigrate the name and image of the Celestial Church of Christ in the Social media. Superior Evangelist Ajala stated categorically that the apex authority of the church is resolute in its determination to bring the perpetrators of the arson at C.C.C. Overcomers Parish to book.

Contributing, SVMSE Dayo Olofinde, M.P.I.C, a member of the Legal Committee of the Pastor in Council, C.C.C. W/w, assured the Police that the Church would work hand in hand with the Police for the success of all investigations into the matter. He affirmed that the Celestial Church of Christ would leave no stone unturned to redeem the image of the church and bring the full weight of the law on all those dragging the name of the church in the mud as far as this matter is concerned.

The Police team handed over picture portraits that were salvaged from the scene of the arson.

His Eminence, Reverend Emmanuel Mobiyina Oshoffa and indeed the Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide, sympathises with the deceased’s family and prays that the Lord grants him eternal peace in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Rtn. Victor Ojelabi

Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.