Residents of Afugiri in Umuahia North local government area of Abia state have been shocked and confused following the tragic news about a mysterious death of a blind prophet, Onyenonachi Agwu, his wife, two children and landlady.
The 54-year-old prophet was the founder and general overseer of Faith Healing Tabernacle Ministry at Nkwoegwu, The Punch reports. He hailed from Umukabia area of Umuahia but lived at Afugiri while his church was at Nkwoegwu.
Prophet Agwu was believed to be possessed of divine powers as many people had reportedly found solutions to their problems through his prayers.
While the cause of the deaths is still unclear, local people have offered various explanations. Some people attribute the deaths to fumes from a generator, while others suspect a spiritual attack as the late cleric was said to have scheduled deliverance prayers for the sick children of his landlady on the fateful day.
A family source said that the bodies were discovered in the morning by neighbours while their generator, which the family bought three days before the incident, was still running. The source added that two domestic fowls were also found dead in the bathroom.
According to the source, the bodies were found in different rooms of the four-bedroom apartment. The wife and daughter were found in one room, the cleric at the dining area, and the landlady was found around the passage, close to the electricity generator.
Some people allege that the deceased might have been attacked spiritually by the evil forces behind the sickness of the landlady’s children, who the prophet was to pray for on the night of the tragedy.
Speaking about the family tragedy, the source said: “Our major challenge now is how to raise money for the burial of the dead.” He already appealed to the local government for financial assistance as the late prophet was the only surviving child of his parents.
