‘RCCG Pastor Found Stabbed, Coughing Blood’

‘RCCG Pastor Found Stabbed, Coughing Blood’

A Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square on Tuesday heard that Babatunde Dada, a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), was found coughing blood after allegedly being stabbed and robbed by two teenagers he helped off the streets and provided accommodation after getting them a job.

Farouk Mohammed, 16, and Kasali Jamiu, 19, are accused of murdering Dada, 46, on December 2, 2021, at the church branch in Festac where the pastor worked. They are on trial before Justice Sherifat Sonaike.

The Lagos State Government remanded Mohammed and Jamiu after their arraignment before a judge.

On January 12, 2022, the duo was charged alongside two others, Mumuni Toheeb, 21, and Mubarak Soliu, 20, before a Yaba Chief Magistrate’s Court for allegedly receiving a Spark S Techno phone valued at N60,000, property of the deceased.

The deceased’s younger brother, Michael Dada, was led in evidence before the court at the resumption of proceedings by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Dr. Babajide Martins.

The witness, who stated that Dada was a pastor at the RCCG Resurrection Chapel on 6th Avenue in Festac Town, Lagos, described how his brother was discovered after the stabbing.

“On the 2nd of December 2021, I received a call from my younger sister, Oluwakemi Dada who lived with my deceased brother. She was screaming on the phone, that my brother was lying in a pool of blood in the church.

“Before getting to the church, she called me back that my brother had been taken to Navy Town Hospital where they took the body. There I found him already confirmed dead,” Michael said.

When he asked his sister what happened, “she told me that there were two strange boys working with them whom the church had accommodated.

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“According to her, when she interrogated my deceased brother about them, he said they were new converts and the church had accommodated them on the church premises. He said he didn’t want the two boys to be stranded or roaming around the church premises so decided to engage them in his laundry business.

“The boys started working with him and were going to be paid. According to my sister Oluwakemi, on that fateful day, my deceased brother told her and the other laundry workers he was going to the bank and that he would be back.

“She said when he came back, he went upstairs in the church to go and rest. After a while, she wondered why he had not come down after resting for quite sometime. One of the laundry workers went upstairs to pick a cloth to wash. On getting there, he screamed. I asked my sister why they were not listening. They said the generator was on.

“The worker screamed and called the rest. They all met the pastor in a pool of blood and he was coughing up blood. They noticed that the two strange boys, Farouk and Jamiu were not there.”

Michael said he asked about the deceased’s phone but it was nowhere to be found and some of the deceased’s belongings.

“I quickly got in contact with the pastor in charge, he continued by then the news had spread. Later in the day, the pastor in charge and his wife came to confirm his body at the Navy Town Hospital. The matter was reported to Festac Police Station.”

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During cross-examination, Mr Oyekanmi Isijola, counsel for the first defendant, asked the witness how he learned about the incident. The witness stated that the incident was relayed to him by his sister and that he was not present.

Mr. Spurgeon Ataene, counsel for the second defendant, asked if the witness knew when the defendants were hired to work in the church’s laundry service.

“I do not know, I am only aware of the incident of December 2nd and it was communicated to me by my sister,” the witness said.

The second witness, Inspector Daniel Olumuyiwa, could not be called because his name was not on the list of witnesses.

Justice Shonaike postponed the hearing on the defendants’ bail applications until December 12, 2022, and the continuation of the trial until January 10, 2023.

The defendants were charged with conspiracy to murder, murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, and armed robbery.

Dr. Martins told the court that the defendants plotted and allegedly murdered Dada on December 2, 2021, around noon, at the RCCG, Road 13, 6th Avenue, Festac area of Lagos.

He claimed they killed the deceased by hitting him on the head with a wooden plank and a bottle.

The prosecutor also told the court that the duo robbed the deceased of his bag and a mobile phone.

The defendants pleaded not guilty.

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