Pastor arrested for allegedly killing pregnant wife for rituals in Ekiti

A pastor, Abiodun Sunday Oluwadare, has been arrested by the police for allegedly killing his pregnant wife, Tosin Oluwadare, in Ido-Ile in Ekiti West LGA of Ekiti State.

Spokesman of the State Police Command, DSP Sunday Abutu, who confirmed the arrest, said that investigation was ongoing.

It was gathered that the pastor popularly known as Araina, strangled Tosin to death for ritual purposes at about 9pm on November 19, 2023,

According to reports, the suspect was caught with the corpse on his way out of the town to go and evacuate the foetus from her womb without her parents approval before he was stopped at Ita-Ido. From there he was taken to the police post in Ido-Ile and later to Ekiti West District Police and later transferred to the homicide section of the State command.

It was further learnt that the pastor, a former herbalist, was posted to a Christ Apostolic Church in Ori-Oke, Ido Mountain, Ekiti West, where he was once expelled for allegedly kidnapping a child.

A step-brother of the deceased, Mr. Samuel Ibironke, also confirmed the incident.

“After killing my sister, he called my wife who is a health worker to come and assist him, only for my wife to get there and discover that he strangled my sister to death,” Samuel explained.

Reacting to the killing, the traditional ruler of the community, Oba Aderemi Obaleye, condemned the killing of the woman, saying, “It is a very sad development which nearly set the town on fire because the youths went on rampage in protest against the so-called pastor,”

“I want the authorities to investigate the matter and bring the culprit to book so as to serve as a deterrent to others.”