Business tycoon, cleric clash over threats to life, alleged abduction of four minors in Edo

A Benin, Edo State based business tycoon, Mrs. Christy Oshogwe and Founder/Senior Pastor of Evidence of Christ Redemption Mission in the Edo State  capital, Pastor Emmanuel Obeneti Agbujufie, have clashed over threats to life. The clergy is also accused of alleged abduction of four minors, who are children of a deceased Edo woman.

Mrs Oshogwe spoke yesterday, Wednesday, February 9, in Benin, while addressing a news conference.

She  accused  Pastor Agbujufie, who hails from Bayelsa State, but in charge of the headquarters of the church in the capital of Edo State, of being behind the threats to her life, using fierce-looking men, soldiers and fully-armed policemen.

She also expressed surprise that the cleric, the husband of her late younger sister, could accuse her of abducting the four children, aged 7, 6, 4, 2, of her deceased sibling, when she only acted on the decision of their family members at Agenebode, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, after the passing of her blood sister, in order to take good care of the innocent children and give them quality education.

The business tycoon stated that with the recent invasion of her houses in Benin and Lagos by soldiers and policemen, her life was in danger, thereby pleading with the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, to come to her aid.

She said: “I am the elder sister to the late Mrs. Aboshogwe Oshogwe, who died on April 30, 2018. Until her death, she was married to Mr. Emmanuel Obeneti Agbujufie, and they had four children: Goodluck, 7; Jesse, 6; Daniel, 4 (all males); and Emmanuella, 2 (female). The Oshogwe’s family is a closely-knitted one, and we love one another tremendously. My other siblings include Paul and Leonard.

“We witnessed the marriage of our late sister to the husband, in spite of our fears that he might have only sought her hand in marriage, just because of the pedigree of the family. This is because they met as school mates, and at the time of the marriage proposal, he had no visible means of income. Although, he promised to get a job in his Bayelsa State of origin, he did not do so.

“Rather, soon after the marriage, he stayed put in Benin City and claimed that he had a calling to be a pastor, and that he would administer a church. Since we could not do anything about it, we resolved to support our sister and the four children, and her husband financially. So that they would not suffer, especially in key areas as house rent and school fees of the children, which went on for over seven years.

“Things turned bad, when we discovered that our sister was terribly sick and the husband did nothing to give her the needed medical care. Rather, he locked her up in their house, off Universal Road, Benin City, and claimed that he was praying for a miracle of healing for her. By the time we became aware of her ailment and its nature, it was almost too late, as she was diagnosed of cancer of the breast. We spent over N5 million, without a kobo from her husband. Constant maltreatment by her husband led to shock, cardiac arrest and she died on April 30, 2018, with the husband refusing to attend his wife’s burial at Agenebode.”

Mrs Oshogwe also stated that his interest in the unfortunate development was to take custody of the four children, feed them well and give them quality education, while stressing that surprisingly on January 7, this year while she was in Lagos with the children, Agbujufie led policemen from Benin to arrest her and the children, and forcibly brought them back to the Edo State capital.

The cleric, however, declared that the business tycoon lied against him, and unlawfully took custody of his children, while insisting that he had the ability and capacity to take care of his biological children.

Agbujufie said: “I was there for my late wife. Her overseas-based sister assisting my late wife is not a crime on my part. There is no one in this world that does not need assistance. My late wife did not just die because of her sickness, but because they were jealous of her success in marrying a responsible man, as they troubled her with lies.

“As soon as my wife died, her family members started threatening me. I had to go and report to the police. Before I could get to the hospital, they had made away with my late wife’s body and my four children. Only for them to call me and they gave me two days notice for her burial.

“Even at that, I went to Agenebode with my family and church members. Only for us to discover that they had already buried my wife, and they started attacking us. The police could not rescue us. It took the intervention of soldiers to save us from their attacks. They claimed that they had money. So, they tried to intimidate me with their money.”

The bereaved husband also stated that he never threatened the life of the business tycoon, but he needed to take back his children, and denied by a gold digger. (Text excludes headline, courtesy The Nation)