ARSON AT C.C.C. OVERCOMERS PARISH, AJAH, LAGOS: Police Give C.C.C. W/w And VSE Aso James A Clean Bill Of Health

It all began one pitch dark night in June 2023 when the Celestial Church of Christ, Overcomers Parish, Oke-Ira Nla, Ajah, Lagos, under the leadership of Venerable Superior Evangelist Aso James, contracted Dogo, a Hausa labourer, to evacuate the soak-away pit in the church premises.

Dogo chose to carry out the assignment on Thursday night while the parish’s New Moon Service was being held. Unfortunately, he slipped, fell headlong into the soak-away pit, and sustained fatal injuries. The uproar that followed disrupted the ongoing New Moon Service

The Assistant Shepherd of the parish jumped into the soak-away pit in a bid to save Dogo and also sustained life-threatening injuries. By the time Dogo was brought out of the pit, he was lifeless. All efforts to revive him proved abortive.

Dogo’s death drew the ire of the Hausa community in the neighbourhood. They mobilised and attacked the scene of the unfortunate incident. Celestial Church of Christ, Overcomers Parish, Ajah, Lagos, was razed to the ground. Property, including cows meant for the parish’s forthcoming Adult Harvest, were vandalised and stolen.

The Shepherd in Charge, Venerable Superior Evangelist Aso James, and some of his aides and parishioners were attacked and brutalised. They almost lost their lives in the process.

It was indeed a very sad, tragic, and traumatic incident! But the worst was yet to come!!!

News scavengers swooped on the waste dump like famished vultures. The social media went agog! Misinformation, outright and deliberate falsehood, hear-say, and rumours suffocated the real facts and actual truth of the situation.

The result? The name and image of the Celestial Church of Christ took a battering like never before. Top on the list of the falsehood peddled was that the church had killed Dogo for ritual purposes and dismembered his body. The lies spread like bush fire in the harmattan and the public perception of C.C.C. appeared to nose-dive into an abysmal pit.

Irked by the turn of events, some distinguished members of the fold called themselves together and began to hold meetings. Their objective was to redeem the damaged name and image of the Celestial Church of Christ, and also to correct the negative public perception of the fold.

In this group were prominent names like VSE Tony Onoh, VSE Segun Folorunsho, VSE Sammy Sotomi, Superior Evangelist Obafemi Adewale, Superior Evangelist Andrew Ebalunode, VSE Smart Ogunbunmi, VSE (Dr) Kola Olaiya, AVSE Gbolahan Oshin, Superior Evangelist Bankole Agunsoye, Superior Evangelist Dayo Olaifa, Superior Evangelist Dele Alabi and Superior Evangelist Kayode Ajala.

In the months that followed the unfortunate incident, this group worked closely with the Police to ensure that the arsonists and vandals were apprehended and prosecuted. They went the extra mile to ensure that an autopsy was carried out on Dogo’s corpse and also ascertained that a Police Investigation Report was issued by the SCID Panti.

And just a few days ago, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, gave the Celestial Church of Christ a clean bill of health at a press conference held in his office at the Police Headquarters, Ikeja, Lagos.

Hundeyin said only those found culpable were taken to court. The suspects include Badmus Bisiriyu and Seyi Afolabi.

According to him, the suspects charged to court were found guilty of arson, setting fire to the church, assault, attacking the shepherd and stealing.

“The shepherd was not taken to court for anything. He wasn’t found guilty of anything. The autopsy did not indict him of anything.

“I’ll leave it at that. If the autopsy had indicted him, he definitely would have been taken to court. The reason I’m not talking specifically about the autopsy is because it’s written in medical jargon, which I cannot really interpret.

“But the interpretation we got from our own medical officers at least confirms that the shepherd or any other person at that is not culpable, as it reads closed craniocerebral injury. The body parts of the deceased were also intact and not dismembered in any way,” he said.

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