Christian woman murdered during evangelism in Abuja

A 42-year-old mother of seven, Mrs Eunice Elisha, was in the early hours of yesterday murdered by assailants while preaching around Gbazango-West area of Kubwa in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Eunice, who was a Deacon­ess at the Divine Touch Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Old NEPA Road, Phase 4, Kubwa, was an indigene of Ekiti State.
The late woman’s husband, who is also a pastor at the church, Mr Olawale Elisha, told journalists that his wife had gone out to preach in the neighbourhood in her usual practice at about 5am on the fateful day only for him to hear the report of her murder.

“My wife always goes out early in the morning for ‘Morning Cry’ to preach. There was a particular day she went out and she told me that there is a mosque at the back where they commented about what she said. So I just warned her to be careful.
“This morning, she went around 5am and I was still in bed because we held vigil which she participated in for a while and slept off because of the Morning Cry for this morning. Two of my boys are footballers, so they went to the field to play. And when they came back, they told me that they heard some footballers saying that they butchered a woman preaching early this morning.
“So, when I heard this, we trekked down with the shorts I was putting on and we didn’t see anybody but we saw blood on the ground. I asked a po­liceman around and he said it is true but that they have taken her to Phase 4 Police Station. I went to the station with my children and when we got there, I saw the lifeless body of my wife at the back of the police van and from there, she was taken to the mortuary. The incident happened between 5am and 5:30am because she usually goes out by 5am and come back at 6am,” he nar­rated.
Speaking about his late wife, Olawale, who said Eunice was born 23rd of July, 1974, said they got married in July year 2000.
“My wife was so committed to anything that is of God. She was a reckless giver to God’s work. She rarely missed any programme in church. We have seven children,” he re­marked.
According to him, his wife had no quarrel with any one that could have warranted her killing.
“She was an easy-going woman and always avoid anything called problem. My church can witness that,” he added.
On how he felt with the murder of his beloved wife, Ol­awale, who paused for a while, followed with a heavy sigh, before he could mutter some words, said: “I see her as a martyr and she died for Christ. And whether the people are caught or not, they should for­give them; my prayer is that if they can accept Christ, that will be a gain to Christ.”
On whether any arrest has been made, he said the police told him some people have been arrested in connection with the killing.
A neighbour, who preferred anonymity, said the deceased and her family packed into their personal building less than a year ago.
She described the late Eu­nice as a friendly and a good woman. Another resident of the area, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said though the community engaged the service of private guards, the effort is not enough.
According to him, the resi­dents started facing the chal­lenge since some of the boys, majority of whom are said to be non-Nigerians, begin to set­tle in the area building batchers as their abodes.
He said though the woman screamed, she could not be rescued before the attackers butchered her to death.
“She shouted Blood of Jesus! Blood of Jesus! She lied dead even with her handset and the megaphone she used for the preaching. Really, the attack was an act of hatred and reli­gious sentiment,” he said.
He called on security agents to ensure that the perpetrators were arrested and brought to book.
When our correspondent visited the Kubwa Divisional Police Station, Phase 4, the DPO was not around. One of the senior officers, who con­firmed the killing, said he was not authorised to speak on the matter.
However, when contacted, the FCT Police Public Rela­tions Officer, ASP Manzah Anjuguri, promised to get details about the incident and get back to our correspondent. But as at the time of filing this report, the police PRO was yet to contact the reporter.