The Police Command in Cross River on
Tuesday paraded a pastor, Tony Obo-Ekpeyong, for allegedly being in
possession of the heart of an 18-month-old baby girl whom he killed.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN,
reports that Mr. Obo-Ekpeyong is the pastor of Royal God’s
Commandment Ministry, Calabar.
Parading the suspect, the spokesperson
of the command, Irene Ugbo, said that the suspect was arrested
alongside six others on Aug. 24 by men of the command.
Ms. Ugbo said that they were arrested
when the parents of the deceased raised an alarm that their child had
been abducted by some masked men who stormed their house.
She said some operatives were
immediately deployed to search the church and it environ, and that
they found some incriminating items and arrested the pastor and six
others.
“On August 24, we received a distress
call that one pastor in a church in Calabar South had killed a baby
girl, aged one year and six months.
“When we got there, the heart of the
child was still shaking. The suspect lied that the heart was that of
a fowl.
“We have sent the heart to the
University of Calabar Teaching Hospital for proper analysis.
“We actually heard some rumours that
the police have collected money to release the suspects.
“We have called the press here today
for the world to know that the suspects are still in our custody and
investigation is ongoing.
“The police cannot release murder,
kidnap or other categories of suspects without due process. We are
going to charge the suspects to court immediately,’’ she said.
The suspect, however, denied the
allegation, saying, “I was praying for one of our members who was
sick when the police came and arrested me.
“The heart they saw was that of a
fowl. We don’t operate any spiritual shrine in the church.
“The thick blood that was seen on the
altar was that of a goat and a fowl that we killed to celebrate with
our members after our three-day fasting programme.’’
Faith Inyang, the 20-year-old mother of
the baby, corroborated what the police said.
Ms. Inyang added: “I recognised one
of the men because of his stature; he lives around our area and he
normally passes through our house.
“Up till now, I have not seen the
body of my daughter apart from the heart that was found there.”
(NAN)
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