A 40-year-old jealous lover, Etifa Obukulubu set the home of his girlfriend on fire over suspicion of cheating, killing an unidentified pastor and his female assistant in the process.
Reports have it that the incident which happened in Igbogene, Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa had resulted in the death of a pastor who was putting up in the house together with his female assistant.
The pastor, who was reportedly working with New Baptist Church was said to have rented the house, while some residents of the area negated it, claiming it was owned by the targeted girl’s family.
As at the time of compiling this report, no other casualties apart from the pastor and his assistant were recorded.
It was gathered the targeted girlfriend, identified as Wilberforce, allegedly vacated her home for the deceased pastor and his assistant, who reportedly came from outside the state on an evangelical mission.
Residents of the community said the suspect, who is a commercial driver, had waited for his girlfriend to come home before carrying out the dastardly act around 3am on Saturday.
They claimed that the suspect got jealous and angry when he sighted his girlfriend with a man and another girl, thereby resulting in the deadly act he did.
According to a resident, “He (suspect) waited for them to enter the house and used fuel to set fire round the house.
“But he did not know that his girlfriend had left the house to go and sleep with another friend.”
Another resident, who described the suspect as a loner, said the incident shocked everyone in the area.
It was stated that the lovers were staying three houses away and no one suspected they were dating.
The source said, “It is unfortunate that the pastor and his assistant died in the fire. I was told the pastor was invited to preach in Yenagoa and the suspect’s girlfriend offered her home for them to sleep so that they would leave early the following day.”
Asinim Butswat, the spokesman for the Bayelsa Police Command, has confirmed the incident, adding that investigation was on-going.
