By Adesina Soyooye
The General Overseer of one of those new generation Churches has thrown the family of a 13-year old into unprecedented pain and sorrow.
Identified as Roman Samson Okoye, he is the General Overseer of Goodness of Jesus Ministry located in Wura Area of Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State.
Presently, he is not preaching about the goodness of Jesus Christ. Instead he is in the custody of the Police, telling them how, and why, he flogged a 13-year old to death with a horse whip in the name of discipline.
Death came calling for the teenager identified as Nancy Peters on June 1, 2026, when her mother, Agnes Peters, accused her of stealing her N30,000.
According to her mother, Nancy was in the habit of stealing her money and all efforts, including counselling and punishment by her and Pastor Okoye hadnot helped.
But on this fateful day of 1st June, 2026, an agonising death finally stopped her.
According to her mother, she suspected that Nancy had stolen the sum of N30,000 from her, but wouldn’t admit it no matter how much she tried to make her confess and return the money.
What to do? She dragged her daughter to their Pastor so she could confess. When they got there, she said, Nancy confessed and told her mother where to find the money. So, she left her daughter with the Pastor, and went home to look for the money.
Just as Nancy said, when her mother got home, she saw the money. But that was where her mother’s joy ended.
On her way back to the Pastor’s to confirm to him that she had seen the N30,000, she met the Pastor rushing her daughter to a hospital. She panicked and joined them. Sadly, on getting to the hospital, Nancy was pronounced dead.
That’s where the stories, as narrated by both Nancy’s mother and the Pastor began to contradict each other. While her mother insists she only asked the Pastor to counsel her since she had already beaten her daughter at home, Pastor Okoye insists she asked him to beat her in addition to the beatings she already received at home.
The Cross River State Police Command confirms that both Pastor Okoro, 45, and the victim’s mother, Agnes Peters, are in custody while investigations are ongoing.
According to the Homicide Section of the Police Command, the woman took her daughter to the Pastor’s residence after previous counselling sessions did nothing to stop her daughter’s repeated acts of theft and other worrisome behaviours.
Said a source: “It happened on June 1 when the mother brought her 13-year-old daughter to the pastor’s house over an allegation that she stole N30,000.
“The woman later left the girl in the pastor’s care, but before she returned, the pastor allegedly flogged the teenager with a horsewhip. By the time he rushed her to the hospital, she was confirmed dead.”
However, Pastor Okoye tells a different story. He told Journalists: “I am the Founder and General Overseer of the Goodness of Jesus Ministry.
“Before I started my own Ministry, I have worked at different Ministries. I started my own minis3try some years back.
“I met Mrs. Peter about four years ago when she had a misunderstanding with her husband. She had three children for the husband but she was sent away by the man. I don’t know what happened between them. The man was not a member of my Church. It was only the woman and her children that were attending my Church.
“When the woman came, she had nothing. She was rejected by the husband with three children. I began to fund their schools and their upkeep.
“God answered the woman’s prayer through me and she started selling fish. The girl had been stealing her mother’s money. Each time she complained, I would appeal to her to remain calm. I would call the girl and scold her. That happened more than twenty times.
“On the Ist of June this year, she brought the girl to my house herself. The woman complained that she had stolen her money again. She also complained that she was also in the habit of sleeping away from home. She told me that the girl stole her N30,000 and asked that I should beat her. She also stated that she already beat her but wanted me to also beat her.
“I went for my horsewhip and started beating her. I only gave her about thirteen to fifteen strokes when I discovered that the girl became very weak. I quickly rushed her to the hospital but she died when we got to the hospital.
“I feel very sad. I didn’t want to kill her. It was her mum that insisted that I must beat her. She was like a daughter to me.”
But Mrs Peter, a resident of Obanleku of Boki Local Government Area, denied that she told the Pastor to flog her.
She said that the only reason she took her daughter the Pastor’s for counselling and prayer.
“It is true that I took my daughter to the Pastor after I discovered that my N30,000 was missing from where I kept it. That was not the first time that she had stolen my money and that was not the first time that I reported her to the pastor.
“That day, I took her to my Pastor’ s house, when she refused to disclose where she kept my money. But while we were at the Pastor’s house, she confessed to stealing the money and even told me that she kept the money in one of her trousers.
“That was when I quickly stood up to go and confirm where she kept the money and I found my N30,000 in the pocket of one of her trousers. The Pastor had not beaten her, when I left to search where she kept the money. It was when I was coming back that I saw him rushing my daughter to the hospital. I met him on the way I didn’t tell him to kill her daughter.
“I had reported her to the Pastor before and I only wanted him to help scold her and counsel her. I was not there when he beat my daughter to death. I only saw when he was taking her to the hospital”
ASP Eitokpah Sunday, Spokesperson for the Cross River State Police Command confirmed the arrest of the suspects.
Yet, the questions remain: What is a Pastor doing with a horsewhip? Is it for his congregation as many of new generation “Pastors” do in the name of pastoring? And, what pushed him to give a 13-year old 15 strokes with a horsewhip? Not a few people are outraged, and are asking screaming justice for the 13-year old Nancy.
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