TheCable

Three worshippers have been confirmed dead during a deliverance service at a church located in the outskirts of Warri, Delta state. 

Andrew Aniamaka, Delta state police spokesman, confirmed the incident on Tuesday.

He said one of the deceased drowned, while the other two died during a prayer session in the church at the weekend.

“The information actually is that one worshipper drowned and two died in the church; that is the information available to me at the moment,” Aniamaka told NAN.

The agency earlier said a source told journalists that the deceased are a 10-year-old boy identified as Emmanuel Odili, Beatrice Nwachukwu and Antonio Abba.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the late Odili, on Friday, accompanied his mother to the church to worship “but fell into a pit inside the church premises and died.”

He added that on Saturday, members of the church found the boy’s corpse floating after he had been declared missing by his parents.

The source also said the church authority deposited the remains of the boy at a morgue before reporting the incident at Eburumede police station.

“The authority of the church alleged that the deceased had a mental disorder which was denied by the parents,” he was quoted to have said.

“While the matter was being investigated, some members of the church on Saturday came to report that Nwachukwu and Abba had died during deliverance in the church.

“They (church authority) said that Nwachukwu slumped during the prayer session; they also claimed she had high blood pressure but the husband denied it.”

Godday Emiko, spokesman of the church, however, denied the allegation when contacted.

“Sorry, I miss your call, there is nothing like that,” Emiko said in a text message.