“If there was domestic violence that led to or coincided with those symptoms that she came with two to three months ago, there is no way I would know”.
Pastor Paul Enenche of Dunamis Gospel International Centre, Abuja, has finally spoken about the death of the late Nigerian gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu.
The singer died on Friday at an Abuja hospital.
Until her death, Osinachi was a lead singer at the Dunamis International Gospel Centre.
She was 44.
She was alleged to have died from health complications and suffered from domestic violence.
In a video posted on his official Facebook page on Wednesday evening, Mr Enenche said he decided to set the record straight by disclosing what he knew regarding the circumstances surrounding Osinachi’s death.
Mr Enenche said, “ We are in the season that calls for sober reflection in the light of the passing of our beloved sister, Osinachi Nwachukwu, who is a kingdom asset and a generational asset to the generation to come. In light of so much misinformation, in the light of so much misconstruction of events, I decided to set straight what I know concerning the situation.”
Medical Hurdles
The pastor, who is also a medical doctor, said that the singer came to his office in the company of her husband, Peter Nwachukwu, some two and a half months to three months ago. He said he prayed for her after she complained of chest pain.
Mr Enenche said that when her condition did not improve, he counselled and advised them to go to the hospital for medical attention.
Narrating how he was involved in their medical journey, the pastor said:
“I called the head of our medical team, Dr Osang, who is a Consultant Paediatrician at the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, to assist with their situation. He, in turn, called his colleagues at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, where they attended to them.
“Upon seeing her, they ordered some investigations after an examination, and that included a CT scan. That was done and from what the doctors saw, they felt that there was a need for further investigation, either at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital or at the National Hospital in Abuja.”
“I called the doctor, a consultant pulmonologist respiratory physician at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Akoh Alexander, and told him about the situation, and he asked that they come to see him immediately; and they went to the Gwagwalada Teaching Hospital.”
“After she was examined, they felt there was a need for histology and biopsy of the lung tissue and they asked that she should go to the National Hospital to get that done.”
“I again called Dr Jubril, who is the Head of Pathology and Consultant Histopathologist of the National Hospital Abuja, and reported the issue to him so he could help us with the investigation and find out what exactly happened and they continued the management.”
Respite
Pastor Enenche said that the singer recorded some level of improvement in her health.
He said: “The histology was done, and from what I saw at that time, the picture was much milder than what the CT scan earlier showed. So, we felt very happy that, at least, there was a relief. She called me daily and we prayed with her, she reported progress; the point came when she did not need oxygen anymore.
“According to what she said to me one night, they checked her oxygen perfusion and it was 100 per cent, and we were very excited about that progress.”
“That was the point it was before my wife and I attended a crusade in Cameroon. On the second night in Cameroon, I was informed of the unfortunate incident of her passing.”
Domestic violence allegations
Mr Enenche said that he was not aware that the singer suffered domestic violence before her death.
He said: “If there was domestic violence that led to or coincided with those symptoms that she came with two to three months ago, there is no way I would know. And if there had been perennial domestic violence, there was no way I would have known.”
Mr Eneche said that he heard about the domestic violence allegations after the singer’s death, and he began to investigate.
“I began to ask questions, first I asked the twin sister, ‘were you aware that your sister passed through all these things. She said she knew some of them but a majority of them, she was hearing also from those she (the victim) confided in. I asked her, I said if you knew, why didn’t you let us know?’
“The sister said she always begged her, please don’t let the church know, don’t tell the pastor, please the man will change, just pray for us, and that continued to happen.”
Mr Enenche also said that he spoke with the first son of the deceased, during his condolence visit to the family on Tuesday. He said he told him other stories of their mother being abused.
“I asked why didn’t you tell me, because typically they will run towards me after service and I will pray for them and lay hands on them, and I said why didn’t you tell me about what was going on in the home, and the young man said, they couldn’t tell me because the father would always ask them after they left me and said ‘what did you tell the pastor?”
The pastor also noted that he spoke to other choir members who were aware of what was going on in the singer’s marriage. They told him that Osinachi was in the habit of going on her knees to beg them not to escalate the issue.
“The last one that touched me so much was the music producer who came to see me in the office a few days ago to tell me his own experience. He told me how he witnessed the man slap his wife in his studio, and I said to him, you saw a man sap a woman in your presence and you left the man and the zero-tolerance are a man yourself, and he said that before he could respond to the man, the woman again with tears on her knees begged him not to do anything, to leave him alone.”
The pastor said that he has zero-tolerance for domestic abuse.
