It was a bizarre drama over the weekend when an Abuja- based
cleric, Jacob Oyedepo, invited ‘bouncers’ to disperse relatives and
friends who had gathered to bury his wife on a property the deceased was
said to have developed before death came calling.
Oyedepo,
according to some sources, works with the Redeemed Christian Church of
God (RCCG) although there were those who expressed doubt about his real
role as a Pastor in the church. The deceased, Mrs. Christiana Adetola
Oyedepo (nee Abu) died on May 2, 2017 after a sickness that was said to
have lasted for about three months. She was aged 45 years.
The
incident, which took place at Oke-Andi area of Ilorin, Kwara State, sent
tongues wagging as to why a cleric would take such a step over a woman
that was married to him for 17 years and had four kids before she died.
There were speculation that the cleric had attempted to sell the
uncompleted property and was concerned that burying the woman on the
site would discourage prospective buyers from the property.
Family
members claimed that the deceased had embarked on the project with
loans obtained from a cooperative society and was still servicing the
loan when she died.
The deceased was said to have been a teacher
in one of the public schools in the state and had developed the property
on her own. Family sources claimed that their marriage had been rocked
by allegations of maltreatment allegedly by the cleric but that the
deceased had kept it under wrap to prevent public ridicule.
A family source said the two had met in church and started their relationship there.
“She
was head of choir and he was head of Youth team in the church,” the
source within the family said, adding: “Our parents never approved of
the marriage initially because the deceased just came home to introduce
the man and insisted that she was in love with and that he was a good
Christian.
That was what made us to finally accept. We didn’t
know there was a lot of abuse in the marriage until she gave birth to
the fourth child and she began to speak about it.”