To protect its sacred culture, the Celestial Church of Christ has ordered its pastor-in-council to draft a policy document to curb alien activities that have been inserted into the church’s tenets and doctrines.
The order was issued in response to the death of Kayode Badru, a Dubai-based socialite, who died of burns at the CCC’s Imole Parish in the Alagbado region of Lagos State.
Badru reportedly flew into the country to commemorate the graduation of the 40 students he funded from the Academic for Innovative Art and Technology.
Following the incident, our correspondent learned that Badru went to the church for a program on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, and knelt for prayers with lighted candles and seven church elders surrounding him.
PUNISHMENT According to Metro, the parish’s priest, Felix Alebiosu, reportedly poured perfume on the victim while he was carrying a lit candle, causing an inferno that heavily burned him.
Badru was rushed to a hospital in Gbagada, where he died, according to reports.
The incident was blamed on the misuse of spiritual perfumes, according to a statement signed by one Stephen Adeniyi of the church’s administrative office.
“Due to the continuous misuse of spiritual perfumes within the church, His Eminence has felt it necessary to state for record purposes and correction that spiritual perfumes intended to be sprayed, sprinkled, or poured with a lighted candle should be diluted with water,” according to the statement.
“Using a lighted candle to spray or spill undiluted spiritual perfumes in their volatile state is an imported culture that was not originally part of the Celestial Church of Christ’s tenets. The pastor founder, Saint S. B. J. Oshoffa, prescribed using spiritual perfume in the spheres of a lit candle by combining it with water. It’s past time for us to retrace our steps in the direction of a larger Celestial Church of Christ.
“It is strongly recommended that we all follow this directive; any parish or individual who fails to do so will be solely responsible for the consequences. The pastor has also ordered the pastor-in-council to draft a policy document to prohibit foreign activities from being incorporated into the church’s tenets and doctrines in order to protect the church’s divine culture, as directed by the spirit of God through the pastor founder.”
The pastor in charge of the parish, as well as two church elders, have been arrested, according to our source.
When contacted, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the state Police Public Relations Officer, said he would look into the incident and get back to our reporter, but he had not done so as of the time of filing this story.
