Controversy Trails Death Of Lagos Socialite, Kayode Badru, Burnt To Death During Deliverance |The Source

“The Chuch Leadership is denying the Prophet because of the social status of the victim. Otherwise, it would have been covered up.This is not the first time it is happening. They cover such things up.” – Church member.

By Akinwale Kasali

The death of Kayode Badru, a United Arab Emirates, UAE, based Lagos Socialite came as a rude shock.  The Social Media is awash with his demise, and its mysterious, horrifying cause.

Badru met his untimely death at Prophet Alebiosu- led Celestial Church in Lagos where he had gone for a Deliverance Service, popularly known as ‘Isegun’, in local parlance on the 5th of May, 2021.

During the Deliverance Service, the late Badru was asked to kneel down at the middle of the Church with Candles lit around him. He was also holding a Candle as well. While kneeling down, the Prophet sprayed a perfume on his body.

Within a twinkle of an eye, his body was on fire due to the closeness of the candle to him. The perfume was highly inflammable. He got burnt all over.

He was rushed to a hospital in Gbagada where he eventually passed on

Badru had flown into Nigeria from his Dubai base to attend the Graduation ceremony of 40 students he gave scholarships to study at the Academy For Innovative Art and Technology, ACIATECH, before he met his death.

For years an adherent of the the late Celestial Church and he was not new to such practices.

But following the manner of his death,the leadership of Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide led by Bilewu Oshoffa, the Son of the founder of the Church, SBJ Oshoffa, has distanced the Church from such practice.

In a statement by the Church Pastoral Directorate, it said that such practice is new, and not part of the tenets of Celestial Church.

It added that the usage of strong perfumes that are highly inflammable are not allowed and the perfumes used by the Celestial Church which  always corrupted such perfumes with water to lighten its inflammation degree.

The statement read in part: “Due to the incessant abuse of Spiritual Perfumes within the Church, His Eminence has found it imperative to state,for record purposes and correction, that henceforth, Spiritual Perfumes intended to be sprayed, sprinkled, or poured with a lighted candle should be diluted with water.

“The spraying or pouring of undiluted Spiritual Perfumes in its volatile state with a lighted candle is an imported culture not originally part of the tenets of the Celestial Church of Christ. The laid down usage of Spiritual Perfume within the spheres of a lighted candle by the Pastor Founder, Saint SBJ Oshoffa is by mixing it with water. It is high time we retraced our steps for a greater Celestial Church of Christ.

“We are all advised to adhere to this directive, any Parish or member that goes against this directive will be solely responsible for the resultant effect.

“The Pastor has also directed the Pastor-in-Council to come up with a policy document to curb alien practices that have been introduced into the Tenets and Doctrines of the Church to safeguard the Church’s divine culture as instructed by the Spirit of God through the Pastor Founder.”

Prophet Alebiosu was said to have disappeared into thin air following the incident along with others who carried out the Deliverance procedure.

However, following frantic efforts by the Police, Prophet Alebiosu has been arrested alongside two others.

Investigation revealed that they are being interrogated at the State Criminal Investigative Department, SCID, Adekunle, Panti Police Station, Yaba, Lagos.

Mixed reactions have, however, trailed this incident as many criticised the Church for such practice, while some said it was just an unfortunate incident that went awry.

Oluwadamilare Iyaomolere, the Ogudu Celestial Church Parish Choirmaster and a Social Commentator, the usage of perfumes for Deliverance is part of the doctrine of the Church, stressing that it was just unfortunate that it happened that way.

“Spraying of perfumes is a normal thing in Celestial, I can’t explain what went wrong. Though the perfumes used for such practices are always mild and not highly inflammable that will result in high degree of burns. The Prophet made a mistake because it is a common sense thing that if you can spray perfume on some holding candle it will catch fire.

“Let”s be clear about this issue. This is not the first time such is happening in Celestial Church. We have had such experience that some got burnt through this same grievous mistakes. It is just because the late Badru is a Social, popular person, it could have been buried and not known to people.

“It is just a face saving approach by the leadership of Celestial Church by saying that Water should be mixed with perfumes, it wasn’t done that way”, Iyaomolere explained.

Popular Hip Hop Artiste, David Adeleke, (Davido) has condemned it in its entirety, calling for the prosecution of the Prophet alongside those who carried what he termed a “dastardly act”.

Davido: “The Pastor should be prosecuted with Second Degree Murder with the Church closed till further notice”.