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Pastor Paul Enenche has broken his silence following the passing of a member of his church and popular gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, insisting that his church does not tolerate domestic violence.
Osinachi died last week in Abuja with her death sparking some controversy and the deceased family formally filing a complaint of culpable homicide against one Mr Peter Nwachukwu who is her husband.
Days after the โEkwuemeโ singerโs death, the founder of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre maintained that his church doesnโt condone any form of assault and battery on women.
โAs a church, we have a zero degree tolerance for domestic abuse and wife battery of any sort,โ Enenche said on his YouTube channel.
โIf you ever listen to any of our relationship messages, there is a principle, a policy, and a rule we have that is โit is better to be alive without marriage than to die because of marriage.โ We have said that over and over.โ
Enenche claimed he was unaware of the supposed violence suffered by his deceased church member, maintaining that the claims sounded odd to him
โIf there was domestic violence that led to or coincided with those symptoms that she came with two and half months or three months ago, there is no way I would know and if there had been perennial domestic violence, there is no way I would have known,โ he said.
โThe things that we are hearing after her passing are things that are strange to my hearing.โ
The 53-year-old also stated that on probing into Osinachiโs death from family members, he was informed about what was transpiring in her household
โThen I began to ask questions. First, I asked the twin sister: โWere you aware that your twin sister passed through all these things?โ She said โyesโ she knew some of these things and that majority of them, she heard from those she confided in,โ the cleric explained.
โI asked her if you (Osinachiโs twin sister) knew, why didnโt you let us know and the twin sister said she always begged her not to let the church and the pastor know. โPlease, just pray for us, the man will changeโฆ and that continued to happenโ.โ
When he decided to question the late singerโs son on his fatherโs alleged brutality, Pastor Enneche said โthe young man told me that they couldnโt tell me because their father will always ask them after they left me what did you tell the pastor? Did you tell him anything? and so on and so forthโ.
Meanwhile, Osinachiโs Nwachukwuโs husband has been arrested days after her death in hospital in Abuja.
โHe is now in our custody. The younger brother of the deceased reported the matter and we have commenced an investigation,โ Abuja police command spokeswoman Josephine Adeh said.
Fellow gospel artistes, who had worked with the late singer, accused her husband of domestic violence.
โOne time in a studio, this man slapped her just because she wanted to record the song in Igbo against his will. She does not do anything on her own,โ Frank Edwards stated on an Instagram live video.
โShe would say, please beg my husband. She was at his mercy. I didnโt know the intensity of what she was going through; I didnโt know how somebody would be jealous of the wife he claimed to love.โ
However, the husband has denied accusations of battery and assault.