The killing of a Redeemed Christian Church of God
(RCCG) pastor by the Boko Haram sect in troubled
Borno State has thrown the church into mourning
and apprehension. The pastor, Taiwo Dokun was killed by the
insurgents when they launched attack on Dille
village in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of the
state on Monday. According to some members of RCCG who spoke to
journalists in Maiduguri, the whereabouts of the
late pastor’s wife and his three children is not yet
known. “It appears that the insurgents abducted members
of the pastor’s family as well as many other
residents of the town. The family members have not
been found since the attack and they have not
called any one. “Though their residence was completely razed by
the insurgents, their corpses were not found in the
debris”, one of the church members who preferred
anonymity told DailyPost. Speaking from Dille on Friday, Jacob Mamza
narrated how the pastor was killed in the attack
which claimed 45 lives. He said “the pastor was in his house at about 6am
when the insurgents attacked the village; his house
was surrounded by the hoodlums and while
attempting to run, he was shot. “Pastor Taiwo was running to a neighbour’s house
and it was in the course of trying to escape that he
was shot in the head and on the chest; the
insurgents equally butchered him to make sure that
he was dead”. Mamza said the insurgents subsequently went to
his house to raze it down and that it was at this time
that his family might have been abducted. Some of the members of RCCG, who spoke to
DailyPost in Maiduguri, said the late pastor might be
buried in Mubi, Adamawa State as the initial plan to
convey his corpse to Akure, capital of Ondo State
for burial may not work as his body had started
decomposing. One of them said: “He might be buried at Mubi for
he was initially taken to a Mubi hospital where he
was embalmed but because it was not properly
done, the corpse started swelling up and a decision
was taken to bury him in the town”. Investigations revealed that his death has caused
disaffection and annoyance among the RCCG
churches in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, as
pastors who are compelled to remain in their
parishes in troubled area of the state are set for war
with the Regional Pastor of the church, Emmanuel Adegboyega Kalejaiye, who oversees the activities
of all parishes in the state. Some of the pastors, who spoke to journalists, said:
“The death of Pastor Taiwo was too much for us to
bear, we believe this could happen to any of us,
especially with the insensitivity of our regional
pastor to our plight. “We are still looking for one of us who was
abducted on January 6 by the insurgents and we
have frequently appeal that the parishes in some of
these affected local government areas of Borno be
closed for now, without result. “The Deeper Life Bible Church and Living Faith
Ministry have closed their parishes in the local
government but all our appeal fell on deaf ears and
see what is happening to our pastors. Our pastors
have had to travel on these deadly road infested
with Boko Haram to Maiduguri every month and it is for the grace of God that many of us are still alive
today”.