A pastor of the Celestial Church of Christ, Iri Orun Parish, Bidemi Odukoya, allegedly killed his wife at their residence in Ogooluwa community, Akiode Ibogun, Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, before dying after jumping in front of a moving truck.
According to Punch, Odukoya, a father of three, threw himself in front of a truck on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway shortly after the incident.
The incident reportedly occurred around 2am on Monday, August 31, following a fight between the couple.
A neighbor, Oluwatoyin Oseni, said the couple had a history of domestic fights, some of which left the wife injured.
“Sincerely, Mama Daniel and her husband, whom we affectionately called Iri Orun, have always been involved in domestic fights. Recently, I had to help take care of the wife after their usual fight,” Oseni said.
“There was even the intervention of the police, after which we thought that the misunderstanding had been resolved.
“It was after the tragedy of Monday 31 August that we realized that both the husband and wife had reportedly not spoken to each other since June as a result of their regular disputes.”
Oseni said the couple’s first child, Daniel, 14, alerted her around 2 a.m. after his father allegedly attacked his mother.
She said she and another neighbor went to the couple’s home and found the woman dead on the floor.
“Later we found out that the Pastor used a machete and a wooden stool to crush his wife’s head. We also saw dad Daniel with a machete in his hand,” he said.
“As I asked him why he had gone to the extent of killing his wife, he calmly said that he was almost dead too. But since he was holding the machete, we couldn’t get any closer.
“He later entered the house, but we never knew that he had escaped from the community that midnight to go commit suicide in Ifo, along the Lagos-Abeokuta highway.”
Community youth leader Seun Adelana said the couple’s disagreement was allegedly related to accusations of infidelity.
“It was said that the husband had been alleging that the wife was dating another man, and some people also said that the pastor was dating another woman,” Adelana said.
“So, this is what we gathered that led to the altercation, which led to the husband killing the wife.”
The Baale of the community, Taiwo Akiode, said some Ifo residents later spotted Odukoya on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
“Some people in Ifo told us that when the deceased reached the highway, he was crossing the highway back and forth repeatedly,” Akiode said.
“He later sat on the divider, after which he saw an approaching truck, jumped in front of it and died.”
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Opeyemi Oluborode, Deputy Police Spokesperson in Ogun State, confirmed that the state Commissioner of Police had ordered an investigation into the incident.
Oluborode said the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation to establish what happened.
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