SAPELE, Nigeria— A chilling attack has left a community in shock and a church in mourning.
Pastor Greg Sagie, a prominent Pentecostal pastor in his 60s, was brutally killed in his home by an attacker wielding a machete.
The assailant is suspected to be a member of his own congregation.
The harrowing incident unfolded on Thursday, September 7, 2023, when the pastor was resting in his bedroom in the pipeline area of MTN Road.
His two children, aged eight and 11, were in the sitting room when the attacker burst in. Threatened by the assailant, the terrified children ran out of the house to raise an alarm for help.
A neighbor and source who claimed to be among those who took the pastor’s body to the mortuary described the traumatic scene.
“We heard the children screaming that someone was inside, attacking their father with a machete,” said the source, who identified herself as Nneka.
“We ran out and saw the attacker. He was a young man in his 20s. He threatened us that if we dared to climb the storey building to meet him, he would kill us,” she added.
Astonishingly, the assailant then leapt from the building and fled the scene.
The children identified the attacker as a familiar face.
“The children told us he was a church member and that they recognize him. They even described where he lived,” Nneka said.
Pastor Sagie sustained severe injuries to his head and was en route to the hospital when he died.
“He breathed his last on the way to the hospital where his car broke down,” stated another neighbor named Isaac.
When journalists visited the crime scene, the police were found cordoning off the area and conducting investigations.
Police spokesperson Bright Edafe could not be reached for comment, but an anonymous security source indicated that law enforcement is actively pursuing the suspect.
“We are yet to know the motive behind the attack, but the police will unravel it soon,” the source said, urging anyone with information to contact the nearest police station.
Community members and churchgoers remember Pastor Sagie as a humble, dedicated man who preached messages of peace and love.
The tragedy now casts a long, unsettling shadow over a congregation and community grappling with the reality of such a horrific act occurring within their midst.
