Pastor, identified as Wale Fagbere, was trapped while trying to destroy a shrine in Ketu, a community in Ayetoro, Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State.
This reportedly followed a ‘revelation’ (read illusion) he had that all the shrines in the community must be destroyed in order to cleanse the land.
Punch reports that the relatively unknown pastor became transfixed – completely motionless and speechless – after he met his waterloo on his self-gratifying religious purge.
After his challenge to the gods fell flat on his face, concerned residents cried for help, drawing the attention of custodians of the shrine to the matter.
Certain rites were performed, following the intervention of Alaye of Ayetoro, Oba Abdulaziz Adelakun, before the deluded pastor came to his senses, or what’s left of it, to bring an end to the spiritual warfare.
Meanwhile, the state acting Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, has rightly confirmed that the cleric might be charged for “sacrilege and malicious damage.”
“The command got the report at its division in Ayetoro that one Evangelist Wale Fagbere went to Ketu to destroy traditional worshippers’ shrines. After the destruction, the man became motionless and could not talk,” he said.
“When the policemen visited the place, the traditionalists said the subject could not be taken away until some rites were performed. The victim was revived and handed over to his family for more spiritual cleansing.”
Pastor Fagbere’s folly highlights the plight of traditional worshippers who have almost become an endangered species in their fatherland, trampled as it were by the more dominant religions.
But when the supposed secular system recognizes just the two religions even in state functions, it may take a long time for the moral of this story to be driven home.