Morris Fadehan (64), the senior pastor of the Celestial Church of Christ in Omitoto, Ile-Ife, Osun State, was tragically assassinated by assistant priest Lekan Ogundipe.
Ogundipe and Fadehan have reportedly been at odds over behavioral problems for some time.
Last week’s confrontation between Ogundipe and Mummy Ewa, a prophetess, who accused him of circulating rumors about their connection, was the last straw.
After Ogundipe allegedly attacked the prophetess, Fadehan reportedly chastised him and declared that he would be fired from his position.
Ogundipe allegedly went to the home of Pa Olafare, the proprietor of the church, on Monday night and stated that Fadehan’s body was being burned at the church by a fire.
When they arrived on the site, they discovered Fadehan’s lifeless body inside the sanctuary, bloodied and burned.
The senior pastor, Fadehan, was enraged by his assistant’s actions, according to a person with knowledge of the incident who spoke with THE WHISTLER. Because he was responding to problems with fury, he had a history of problems with Lekan (Ogundipe).
“The assistant used to have the church key in his possession, but following the incident, Fadehan seized it from him and made a commitment to report to the committee that would ultimately approve his excommunication from the church. Lekan killed his boss by stabbing him multiple times with a knife and putting nails in his ears. He then burned him on the altar using prayer fragrances.
“The deceased had reported to me that he was to disengage Lekan (the suspect) as his assistant over many unlawful acts,” said church owner Pa Olafare, welcoming delegates from Celestial headquarters. The assault on a prophetess in the church last Wednesday was among the most recent, and I agreed with him. However, he stressed that he would make a decision only after conferring with the elders.
However, on Monday night, when I was out to dinner, the aforementioned Lekan came to the house and informed me that the deceased was dead on the floor and that fire was blazing on his body. As a result, I drove back to the church with him and my wife, where we discovered the deceased partially burned.
We found cuts and bloodstains on several areas of his body. Lekan tried to flee when we questioned him about the bloodstains, but we caught him and imprisoned him in my car before calling the police.
Before we brought the dead pastor’s body to the morgue at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital in Ile-Ife, we found that he had several slashes on his head and neck and that there were nails in his ear.
“In the meantime, Lekan later admitted to the police that he killed the victim as a result of an argument with her.”
According to the police inquiry, Ogundipe did, in fact, repeatedly stab Fadehan with a knife, drive nails into his ears, and light his corpse on fire with prayer scent. It was reported that Ogundipe eventually admitted to the horrifying crime.
Prophetess Ewa further stated that Fadehan had reprimanded Ogundipe after the attack last week and that she had warned him against gossiping.
Ogundipe’s detention was verified by police spokesman Yemisi Opalola, who also said that Fadehan’s body had been sent to the morgue for an autopsy.