The men of the State Criminal Investigation
Department of the Abia State Police Command are currently working hard to
unravel the mystery behind the death of Pastor Blessed Iwuanyanwu and his two
assistants, some members of his church have raised the alarm that the killers
are still making calls with Iwuanyanwu’s mobile set.
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| Blessed Iwuanyanwu |
Police operatives, led by the Deputy Commissioner
of Police in charge of the SCID, Patrick Edung, had, last Saturday, uncovered
the decomposing bodies of Iwuanyanwu; his assistant pastor, Ambassador Ikeagu;
and the Women Leader of his church, Pastor Ruth Andrews.
The deceased were pastors at the Wind of Glory
International Church, Ohokobe village within Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
Iwuanyanwu, said to be about 27 years old, was the Founder and General Overseer
of the church.
The late clergyman, who hails from Mbano in
Imo State, was a Mathematics graduate from the Michael Okpara University of
Agriculture, Umudike. He also attended St. Peter’s Seminary in Okigwe, also in
Imo State.
An elder in his church, who spoke on condition
of anonymity, told Newmen that the late G. O was last
seen on Saturday, October 13, 2018, when he came to the church to observe choir
rehearsals.
The elder said the church members were thrown
into confusion when their pastor and his assistants did not show up for the
service on Sunday, October 14, 2018. He added that when their absence was
becoming worrisome, many of the church members’ started calling his mobile
number but the calls were not returned.
He said, “I was the person that coordinated
the service. It was a special service where our pastor was meant to pray for a
particular women group led by one of our church members for the successful
conduct of their 2018 August meeting.
“But when the service had gone half way
without our pastor in the church, we all became worried and started calling his
mobile number but he was not picking his calls. After a while, he sent a
message to the woman that brought her group for prayers that we should go on
with the church service, saying he went to camp for prayers.
“Personally, I wasn’t happy when I heard that because he has
not done a thing like that in the past. Previously, before he leaves the town
for any programme or even going to the mountain, he used to inform us. But be
it as it may, we conducted the service and went home, expecting to see him in
church during our Wednesday service but he didn’t show up too. We got the same
message that we should carry on with our service again.
“For us, we thought we were speaking with our
pastor not knowing it was his killers who were using his phone to deceive us
until last Sunday morning when we came to church and heard the news of his
death and that of the two other pastors. It was a big shock to us. All we did
that Sunday was to cry because of their deaths.
“Even after we got to know that our pastor was
dead, his killers were also calling and threatening some of our church members
with his phone.
Alleged romance with church women leader
On the much rumoured romance between the
deceased pastor and the church women leader, who owns a private school in
Umuahia, the elder said the church had no knowledge of any alleged affairs
between them.
He added that Ruth, a mother of three, was a
dedicated member of the church who was its women leader before she was ordained
a pastor in the church.
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| Ruth |
He said, “Sister Ruth, who was also killed
with our pastors, was coming to church like any other person; she was our women
leader and was recently ordained a pastor. Nobody has ever reported any ungodly
relationship between her and our pastor.
Search for the missing pastors
Ambassador Kalu Ikeagu, the assistant pastor
to Iwuanyanwu, had informed his family members that he would spend a night at
his senior pastor’s house on Saturday, October 13, 2018, from where he would
attend the church service on Sunday, October 14.
However, his mother and siblings became
worried when he did not return to his family. His younger brother, Valentine,
said Ambassador was not known for spending the night outside their home. He
explained that to worsen the case, his cell phone indicated that it was
switched off.
Valentine explained that he also called the
phone of Iwuanyanwu which ranged out several times, saying this forced him to
send text messages which were not replied.
 |
| Kalu |
According to him, the search continued until
last Thursday when he involved Ambassador’s girlfriend in the search for his
brother. He added that the lady equally complained that she had called him and
his boss for several times without reaching them within that week.
Valentine added, “On the same Thursday
evening, my brother’s friend called and told me that Pastor Iwuayanwu called
her and said Ambassador was with him and that they were together in a camp for
a meeting.
“Then, last Friday, I contacted another
Ambassador’s friends known as MOG, and complained to him. He was the one who
visited pastor Iwuanyanwu’s house and perceived a bad odour from the compound
from the gate which was locked.
“When he told me that, I asked him to report to the police
because I was not in town. He went to the police station with my sister on
Friday evening and lodged the complaint. So, on Saturday, the policemen visited
the house; forced the gate open, and found the bodies of my brother, his pastor
and the women leader.”
Source: Punch
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