How Celestial church was vandalised, shepherd, others attacked brutally

Following a social media report about the death of a labourer, Dogo, who died during the evacuation of waste at the C.C.C Overcomers Parish, Oke Ira Nla, Ajah, Lagos, the wife of the Shepherd of the church, Mrs Aso James has cleared the air over the Saturday tragedy.

Speaking to reporters, the wife of the shepherd of the church said it was a clear case of an accident and not ritual killing as reported in social media.

Yesterday, the video of violence unleashed on the church went viral, as a group of people attacked the church and members of the church.

Mrs. Aso James

Ayotunde Oladipupo

In the viral video online, a white garment Church, C.C.C. Overcomers Parish, Oke Ira Nla, Ajah, Lagos, was burnt down.

The video also showed the naked and battered body of the Senior Shepherd of the church, VSE Aso James.

The Shepherd’s wife, who is still in shock, escaped by whiskers.

A senior member of the church, Assistant Shepherd of the Parish, Senior Evangelist Ayotunde Oladipupo and the Shepherd of the church are currently in critical condition in a Lagos hospital.

Mrs Aso James revealed that the deceased, Dogo, was a known face in the church.

Until his death, he was always doing one thing or the other for the church.

“Dogo was contracted for the job ahead of the church Juvenile Harvest on 4th June.

“In preparation for the Juvenile Harvest Thanksgiving, the Parish contracted ‘Dogo’ in clearing the church soakaway during the week, not on New Moon service day (Thursday) as it was earlier reported by online media.

“Dogo who came in on Thursday at midnight, came with chemicals which he poured into the soakaway before clearing the dirt.

“The man came on Thursday midnight without prior notice or permission from the church authorities at midnight. Those who saw him come in did not stop him because he was a familiar face, besides, a service was ongoing.

“As at the time Dogo came into the church, the shepherd was on the altar ministering.”

Narrating the ordeal, the wife of the Shepherd said the Shepherd and Dogo bonded very well because the shepherd speaks Hausa very well.

She disclosed that if the shepherd of the church had been notified that Dogo would do the work at night, he would not have allowed that.

“Thursday midnight is a Celestial New Moon service all over the world and it’s being conducted by the parish shepherds, we were already in New Moon service when people saw Dogo carrying a ladder around 2:00 am because Dogo saw the church gate open during the service. But because the church members knew that this was the one that normally contracted to clear soak away, he was allowed to do whatever he wanted to do.”

Dogo was said to have placed the ladder inside the soak away, in order to pack the dirt but after a short while, they noticed he was shouting while he was sinking.

She said the assistant shepherd of the church, who was with Dogo tried to help Dogo out, but it was unsuccessful as he too also fell into the pit.

The Senior Shepherd by this time had been alerted and also joined the rescue mission; Dogo and the assistant shepherd were eventually evacuated from the soakaway.

“It was not only Dogo that fell into the soakaway, the assistant church shepherd who was curious about Dogo’s decision to clear the soakaway in midnight stayed to supervise him, the moment he noticed Dogo had sunk, he enter the soakaway too to rescue Dogo, but unfortunately for him, he also fell into the soakaway.

Immediately, the shepherd was alerted, he stopped the service and came to the scene of the accident.

Unfortunately, it was difficult to move the injured to the hospital as the road to the church was inaccessible to vehicles because of the rain that damaged the road. “They had to carry all of them on the back to the main road. The church boys carried Dogo and the assistant shepherd with their legs and rushed them to hospital, getting to the hospital, the people on duty confirmed the death of Dogo while the assistant shepherd was attended to.”

It was at the hospital that they advised Shepherd to report immediately to the nearest police station while the body of the dead was taken to the mortuary. While the matter was reported at Langbasa Police Station, the police advised Shepherd to remain in the police station till daybreak.

“But while we were at the police station making a report, the police advised us to call the family members of the deceased, which we did but the person who responded told us to evacuate the deceased body from the mortuary and return him to the church premises, all this happened at midnight,” a member of the church told our reporter.

She said in the morning, the police accompanied members of the church to the church premises where Dogo was laid. “Suddenly a group of people came to the church and saw a cow that we bought for our Juvenile Harvest for Sunday, tied in the church premises, immediately, the crowd started shouting ritual, ritual, ritual…”

A few minutes later, the members of the church left for the church secretary’s house very close to the church, but minutes after, “we saw a crowd with the representative of Dogo, they surrounded the premises.

“All these happened in the presence of the police, but the crowd was too much for the police to overpower. Initially, the shepherd ran inside with some members and myself jumped a fence into a bush with the shepherd before he told us to run for our lives and allow him to meet the crowd.”

The Shepherd who speaks Hausa very well felt he could explain what happened to the irate crowd and douse the tension, but he was wrong as the irate crowd charged and attacked the shepherd. “The shepherd didn’t run even though we were persuading him to run first, he told us it would be another thing to run in such a situation.”

The police tried to maintain calm, but it seemed the irate crowd had made up their minds for violence. “There and then, they started vandalising the church properties, setting some parts of the church ablaze and battering the Senior Shepherd, the church secretary, to a stupor.

The shepherd’s wife who was in tears, explained that the crowd invaded the church secretary’s house and lynched the shepherd and secretary who were seriously injured.

“This is a pathetic situation, there was nothing like a ritual killing. Some people are just being mischievous because we are a white garment church because we are a Celestial Church, Dogo was a known person, and the Shepherd treated him like a brother because my husband stayed in Benue, so he understands Hausa.

“The harvest cow they saw alive was what prompted them to be shouting rituals. Dogo parts were fully intact. Nothing was removed from his body.

“The police witnessed that and the body was there for people to see. Dogo didn’t die inside the soakaway, he fell inside along with another church executive both of them were rescued alive before he died on the way to the hospital which the hospital confirmed died.”

Speaking to our correspondent on the phone, the spokesperson of the Church, Mr. Kayode Ajala said Dogo was found dead when he was brought out. The assistant shepherd who fell into the soakaway with him is currently in a critical condition. “It was when they took them to the hospital that the family of Dogo said Dogo’s corpse should not be taken to the mortuary, that they should bring the corpse. The corpse was intact. He wasn’t alive when they took him out of the soakaway.

“The assistant pastor that was alive was moved from the hospital he was  yesterday night to another hospital. He is in bad shape. We are praying that he survives but Dogo was not alive when they brought him out.”

Reacting to the reports making the rounds, the church, on its official website advised members of the public to “disregard any other narrative meant to tarnish the name and image of the Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide.”

It said, however, contrary to the false narrative making the rounds that the parish was burnt because the deceased’s body was mutilated and human parts removed, the church explained that:

“The deceased Hausa man known as Dongo was quite popular in the neighbourhood and was known for the job of evacuating overflowing soak-aways. He also doubled as an Okada rider.

“…was contracted to evacuate the soak-away in the premises of Celestial Church of Christ, Overcomers Parish, and was actually paid for the job three days before the unfortunate incident.

-“… Dongo, out of his own volition, chose to do the job on the night of Thursday, 1st June, 2023. This was while the New Moon Service was in progress.

“The Shepherd in Charge of the Parish, VSE Aso James, was busy in the inner altar as he was the Service Conductor.

“While carrying out the job he was engaged for, the deceased Hausa man, Dongo, slipped and fell into the soak-away.

“The Assistant Shepherd of the Parish, Senior Evangelist Ayotunde Oladipupo, who was supervising Dongo as he carried out the job immediately tried to rescue Dongo and in the process, he also fell into the soak-away.

“Church members alerted by the shouts for help abandoned the Service and began a rescue operation for the two people that had fallen into the soak-away.

“The lifeless body of Dongo was eventually brought out, while the unconscious body of the Assistant Shepherd, Senior Evangelist Ayotunde Oladipupo, was also brought out of the soak-away.

“The unconscious Assistant Shepherd, Senior Evangelist Ayotunde Oladipupo, was rushed to the hospital, while the lifeless body of Dongo was also taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“The family of the deceased Hausa man, Dongo, took custody of his remains with all parts of the body in place.

“The Police also attest to the fact that no part of Dongo’s body was tampered with.

“The arson at the Overcomers Parish was carried out by an angry mob largely made up of ‘area boys’ and Okada riders who also attacked the Shepherd of the Parish, VMSE Aso James, and inflicted grievous bodily harm on him.

“The Hausas in the neighbourhood are doing a house-to-house search, on a reprisal attack, looking for Celestial Church members with the intention to harm them. Many C.C.C. members in the neighbourhood have since abandoned their homes and gone into hiding.

“VSE Aso James (Shepherd) and Senior Evangelist Ayotunde Oladipupo (Assistant Shepherd) are presently hospitalised and in critical condition.”

Meanwhile, A member of the Celestial Church of Christ, Overcomers Parish, Oke-Ira Nla, Ajah, Lagos, has come out to debunk the falsehood being spread about the unfortunate developments that led to the death of Dogo.

In a post on his social media handle with the name xin_nightwolf, the church member who was an eye witness to the carnage and arson, stated that the perpetrators of the dastardly act cannot be described as an angry mob but a bunch of looters that spent two hours looting the Mission House and stealing all electronic devices and musical instruments in sight. They even went to the extent of removing electric cables and slaughtering and sharing the cow tied down in the Parish premises for the Juvenile Harvest on Sunday.

He further explained that: “This is my church @cccovercomersparish and I’m a leader in the church. Dogo was contracted to evacuate the cesspool/soak-away…He’s well known to work at night and ride bikes by day…While the church was observing the 7 members prayer for the New Moon Service, Dogo came in with his tools and ladder…

“Nobody bothered him as he’s a regular face in the church…he does all sorts of odd jobs for the Shepherd, washes car, supplies planks as the church is going through some minor renovations…While working, he fell down into the soak-away…In the attempt of bringing him out, he held the Evangelist who went into the soak-away to help him down to the point that both of them drowned…