Pastors kill their brother-in-law over church space

Men of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested two self acclaimed pastors — Chuckwuka Stephen, 43; and Ejim Stephen, 39 — for killing their brother-in-law, Peter Chukwuyem, on February 5, 2019.

The victim, who married the elder sister of the two suspects, brought them from their village in Delta State to Papa Ibafo in Ogun State, where they lived with the couple for sometime.

While they were living with the deceased, they were using the frontage of the deceased house for their church activities, but when their conduct was no longer pleasant to their in-law, he sent them away from the place, which led to them nursing animosity against the deceased, a statement by the Ogun State Police Command on Thursday said.

The statement by DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said on February 5, 2019, the deceased went to his farm with two of his teenage daughters in the morning and met the two suspects at the farm.

It said because of the presence of the two girls, they were unable to do anything to him for fear of been exposed.

In the evening of the same day, the deceased went back to the farm alone and the suspects who had been waiting for him accosted him and macheted him to death.

It was when the deceased didn’t return home on time that his wife traced him to the farm and met his dead body.

She subsequently went to Ibafo Police Station, where she lodged complaint.

The two brothers were later arrested by the police at Ibafo on account of the two daughters of the deceased who informed the police that they saw them earlier in their father’s farm.

On interrogation, the two suspects denied killing their brother in-law, but when they were confronted by the two daughters of the deceased, they confessed killing the deceased in his farm because he deprived them of continuing using his frontage for their church activities.

The corpse of the deceased was subsequently removed and deposited at the General Hospital mortuary for post mortem examination.

Meanwhile,  the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for proper investigation and prosecution.