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What I Know About Osinachi’s Death – Dunamis Pastor, Paul Enenche
The Lead Pastor of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre Worldwide, Abuja, Pastor Paul Enenche, has said he had no idea that the late popular gospel artiste, Osinachi Nwachukwu, was abused by her husband, Peter Nwachukwu.
Until her death last Friday, the 42-year-old artiste who died after spending days at an undisclosed hospital in Abuja, a lead singer in Enenche’s church.
Her colleagues accused her husband of beating her.
In a recorded video broadcast posted across all his social media handles and on the church’s Facebook Page, Dunamis TV on Wednesday, Enenche said all he knew was that the late Osinachi and her husband, Peter, came to him for prayers when the former complained of chest pain over two months ago.
He said, “Over two-and-a-half months to three months ago, she came to see me with her husband with complaints of chest pain and respiratory distress. I prayed for her and prayed again.
“When the symptoms did not abate, I counselled that they went to the hospital to help us know exactly what we were dealing with and they asked if I could help them facilitate that process. I called our head of medical team, Dr Osang, who is a consultant paediatrician with the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi (Nasarawa State) to assist to handle their situation.
“He called the FMC, Jabi (Abuja), where they attended to her. On seeing her, they ordered some examinations and investigations and that including CT scan. That was done, and from what the doctors saw, they felt there was the need for further investigation either at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital or the National Hospital, Abuja. I called the doctor at the UATH, Dr Akoh Alexander, and told him the situation.
The pastor said the late artiste was later admitted and was responding to treatment before he heard about her death.
The pastor added, “Now if there was domestic violence that led to or coincided with those symptoms she came with two-and-a-half to three months ago, there is no way I would know. If there had been perennial domestic violence, there is no way I would have known.
“The things we are hearing after her passing were very strange to my hearing. Then, I began to ask questions. Then, I asked the twin sister, ‘Were you aware that your sister passed through all these things?’ She said yes, that she knew some of them, but that the majority of them she heard only from those she (Osinachi) confided in.
“I asked her, ‘If you knew, why didn’t you let us know?’ and she said, she (Osinachi) always begged her not to tell the pastor or the church that the man would change and asked for prayers. That continued to happen.”
Enenche further said he asked Osinachi’s first son of what transpired between his mom and dad and he confirmed the stories.
He quoted the son as saying that he refused to speak up in order not to attract his father’s anger.
“The last one that touched me so much was the music producer who came to see me in the office two days ago to tell me his own experience and how he witnessed that the man slapped the wife in his studio,” he added.
Enenche insisted that all he knew about the deceased’s plight in the hands of her husband were brought to his knowledge after her death.
The Punch
President Bola Tinubu has nominated Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, the immediate past sole administrator of Rivers State and a former Chief of Naval Staff, as a non-career ambassador.
Tinubu also nominated Ita Enang, a former senator; Chioma Ohakim, former First Lady of Imo State; and Abdulrahman Dambazau, former Minister of Interior and ex-Chief of Army Staff, as non-career ambassadors.
The United States Department of State on Wednesday announced that it is outlining new measures to address violence against Christians in Nigeria and other countries.
The policy, according to a statement released by the department, targets radical Islamic terrorists, Fulani ethnic militias, and other actors responsible for killings and attacks on religious communities.
“The United States is taking decisive action in response to the mass killings and attacks on Christians carried out by radical Islamic terrorists, Fulani militias, and other violent groups in Nigeria and beyond,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement.
According to the statement, a new policy under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows the State Department to restrict visas for individuals who have “directed, authorised, significantly supported, participated in, or carried out violations of religious freedom,” and, when appropriate, extend those “restrictions to their immediate family members.”
The briefing, led by House Appropriations Vice Chair and National Security Subcommittee Chairman Mario Díaz-Balart, included members of the House Appropriations and House Foreign Affairs Committees, as well as religious freedom experts.
Participants included Representatives Robert Aderholt, Riley Moore, Brian Mast, Chris Smith, US Commission on International Religious Freedom Chair Vicky Hartzler, Alliance Defending Freedom International’s Sean Nelson, and Dr Ebenezer Obadare of the Council on Foreign Relations.
President Bola Tinubu recently approved Nigeria’s delegation to the new US–Nigeria Joint Working Group, formed to implement security agreements from high-level talks in Washington led by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.
The move follows growing concerns over terrorism, banditry, and targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria, prompting increased US scrutiny and warnings about the protection of vulnerable faith communities.
On November 20, the US House Subcommittee on Africa opened a public hearing to review Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, placing the country under heightened scrutiny for alleged religious-freedom violations.
Lawmakers examined the potential consequences of the designation, which could pave the way for sanctions against Nigerian officials found complicit in religious persecution.
The Punch
United States of America lawmakers have sharply contradicted the Nigerian government’s position on the ongoing massacres in the country, describing the violence as “escalating,” “targeted,” and overwhelmingly directed at Christians during a rare joint congressional briefing on Tuesday.
The closed-door session – convened by House Appropriations, Vice Chair Mario Díaz-Balart, as part of a Trump-ordered investigation – examined recent killings and what Congress calls Abuja’s “deeply inadequate” response.
President Trump has asked lawmakers, led by Reps. Riley Moore and Tom Cole, to compile a report on persecution of Nigerian Christians and has even floated the possibility of U.S. military action against Islamist groups responsible for the attacks.
At the briefing, Vicky Hartzler, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, warned that “religious freedom [is] under siege” in Nigeria, citing mass abductions of schoolchildren and assaults in which “radical Muslims kill entire Christian villages [and] burn churches.” She said abuses were “rampant” and “violent,” claiming Christians are targeted “at a 2.2 to 1 rate” compared with Muslims.
While acknowledging Nigeria’s recent move to reassign 100,000 police officers from VIP protection, Hartzler said the country is entering a “coordinated and deeply troubling period of escalated violence.” She urged targeted sanctions, visa bans, asset freezes and tighter conditions on U.S. aid, insisting Abuja must retake villages seized from Christian communities so displaced widows and children can return home.
The strongest rebuke came from Dr. Ebenezer Obadare of the Council on Foreign Relations, who dismissed Abuja’s narrative that the killings are not religiously motivated. He called the idea that extremists attack Muslims and Christians equally a “myth,” stressing the groups operate “for one reason and one reason only: religion.” Higher Muslim casualty figures, he argued, reflect geography, not equal targeting.
Obadare described Boko Haram as fundamentally anti-democratic and accused the Nigerian military of being “too corrupt and incompetent” to defeat jihadist networks without external pressure. He urged Washington to push Nigeria to disband armed religious militias, confront security-sector corruption and respond swiftly to early warnings.
Sean Nelson of ADF International called Nigeria “the deadliest country in the world for Christians,” claiming more Christians are killed there than in all other countries combined and at a rate “five times” higher than Muslims when adjusted for population. He said extremists also kill Muslims who reject violent ideologies, undermining Abuja’s argument that the crisis is driven mainly by crime or communal disputes.
He pressed for tighter oversight on U.S. aid, recommending that some assistance be routed through faith-based groups to avoid corruption. Without “transparency and outside pressure,” he said, “nothing changes.”
Díaz-Balart criticised the Biden administration’s reversal of Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” in 2021, saying the decision had “clearly deadly consequences.” Lawmakers from the Appropriations, Foreign Affairs and Financial Services committees signaled further oversight actions as they prepare the Trump-directed report.
Hartzler pointed to recent comments by Nigeria’s Speaker of the House acknowledging a “coordinated and deeply troubling period of escalated violence,” calling it a rare moment of candor. She also welcomed the redeployment of police officers as “a promising start after years of neglect.”
But she stressed that these gestures are far from sufficient, insisting the Nigerian government must demonstrate a real commitment to “quell injustice,” act swiftly on early warnings, and embrace transparency.
The Nigerian Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to source.
