Three worshipers have been confirmed dead during deliverance service at a church located in the outskirt of Warri, a report by police said.
DSP Andrew Aniamaka, state’s police PR, confirmed the incident on Tuesday.
According to him, one of the deceased drowned, while the two others 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 said.
A source who earlier spoke with newsmen revealed that the deceased comprised of a 10-year-old boy, identified as Emmanuel Odili; Mrs Beatrice Nwachukwu and Mr Antonio Abba.
The source, who spoke in confidence, added that the late Odili, had on Friday accompanied his mother to the church to worship, but fell into a pit inside the church premises and died, his corpse was later found on Saturday, by members of the church after he had been declared missing by his parents, NAN reports.
The source said that 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 mental disorder which was denied by the parents.
“While the matter was being investigated, some members of the church on Saturday came to report that Mrs Nwachukwu and Mr 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.”
When contacted, the spokesman of the church, Mr Godday Emiko, denied the allegation through a text message.
“Sorry, I miss your call, there is nothing like that,” Emiko said.
