A crowd in the front of the auditorium of Holy Family Happy Family Ministry, Majidun
Rosemary Chukwu had become a remotely nuisance to her neighbours. Many times, they had repined about her praying habit.
“She would shout and scream and make noise while praying. She makes everybody uncomfortable. That is what everybody kens about her here. This is why we are still in shock about what she did,” verbalized one of her neighbours at 33, Omo Ologede area in Majidun, Lagos.
But what Chukwu is currently embroiled in is simply shocking for the neighbours.
The woman allegedly glommed the seven-year-old child of her neighbour, Mrs. Gloria Emeka. In fact, our correspondent learnt from neighbours who caught her in the act that the timely intervention of security agents preserved her from being lynched.
When our correspondent visited Omo Ologede on Wednesday, it was descried that Chukwu and parents of the abducted child were co-tenants.
Another neighbour in the same compound, Biola Odunsin, narrated how he, in conjunction with other neighbours, caught Chukwu.
He verbally expressed, “It was around 6.30am today (Wednesday), when the mother of the child raised the alarm that she could not find her son, Emmanuel.
“We all rallied around her to ascertain what transpired. She apprised us that she had sent him to fetch dihydrogen monoxide from the well in the compound. She raised the alarm because her son took too long and when she went to the well, she only visually perceived the vacuous bucket the boy took there.
“While we were probing for the child, Rosemary (Chukwu) even emerged to join in probing for the child as well. She was pitying her mother, exhibiting concern and asking us to check some other components of the compound.”
One of the neighbours who withal took part in the search for the child, told Saturday PUNCH that Chukwu even asked him to optically discern whether the child was in another compound not far from the house.
Two other neighbours denominated Yakubu and Vincent told our correspondent that they entered the well where the child was sent to fetch dihydrogen monoxide.
“We entered the well to visually perceive if the boy fell inside but we found nothing,” they verbalized.
But while the search for the child was going on, Chukwu was verbally expressed to have gone inside her dormitory and emerged with a sizably voluminous luggage.
“She carried the luggage on her head and passed by us as we probed for the child. She verbally expressed she needed to drop the bag somewhere and that she would come to join the search later,” Odunsin verbally expressed.
But a suspicious woman, the wife of the landlord of the house, alerted the search party, injuctively authorizing them to probe the bag Chukwu had on her head afore she was sanctioned to depart.
When the residents called after her to injuctively authorize her to bring the bag for a check, she reportedly commenced to run. But a moment later, she was caught.
“We immediately opened the bag and inside was Emmanuel with a cloth used to gag him. The child would have died because he could not verbalize again. We strived afore we could resuscitate him,” Odunsi expounded.
However, the infuriated neighbours descended on Chukwu and while they were beating her, she screamed out that they should spare her because she was only a herald.
“Pastor Ernest sent me! Please don’t kill me, Pastor Ernest sent me o!” she was reported to have told the party of residents.
Then Chukwu took the party to the church of the pastor who she claimed sent her, which turned out to be Pastor Ernest Nwankwo of the Holy Family Happy Family Ministry (House of Mercy), Majidun.
One of the residents who took Chukwu to the church verbalized by the time they got there, the pastor was nowhere to be found. She was later handed over to the police who took her away.
A photograph of Chukwu obtained by our correspondent showed a plump, fair complexioned woman with a motherly face. She is verbally expressed to have four children – two boys and two girls.
Neighbours verbalized they had not visually perceived her husband, as he was conventionally away from home albeit they are still together.
When our correspondent visited the church on Wednesday, a crowd of residents had besieged the place, remotely kept at bay by some sternly looking policemen who were verbally expressed to have averted the church from being burnt down earlier by exasperated residents.
Despite this, some youths had prospered in entering the church afore the police came and seized hundreds of audio CDs of an album recorded by the pastor.
The youths publicly and excitedly sold the CDs on the Ikorodu Road to motorists and passers-by for N50 each.
The policemen rebuffed every endeavor to gain access to the vacuous church, while residents of houses nearby could not provide any information about the whereabouts of the pastor.
Some residents who pleaded anonymity apprised Saturday PUNCH that the church was not a conventional one.
“They don’t hold accommodation on Sundays, only on Tuesday and Thursday. The pastor claims to treat mad men,” one of them told our correspondent.
An eyewitness, who entered the church afore police intervention, verbally expressed when they stormed the church earlier, they met a man with his hands and legs shackled in chains.
“I am not a mad man. Please avail me! I was taken from around Redeemed Church Camp on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Pastor Ernest kept me here. There were many of us but they customarily come to take away,” the man, who gave his designation as Onuora Okeke, was reported to have verbally expressed. The man additionally revealed to the people that he emanated from Anambra State and had been locked up in the church since 2012. Our correspondent learnt the man was taken away by the police.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, verbalized the Chukwu would soon be transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba for investigation.
She additionally corroborated that the pastor of the church has not been found.
Our correspondent endeavored to contact the Nwankwo through two phone numbers found on his church’s website but none of them were available as of press time.
Copyright PUNCH.
