Imo: Gunmen Attack Church During Deliverance Service, Kill Youth Leader, Rob Congregation

In a shocking attack on Saturday, gunmen stormed the God’s Doing Healing and Deliverance Ministry in Orodo, Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State, resulting in the death of Samuel Ogbonna, a prominent youth leader.

Ogbonna, who was also the proprietor of ‘Feel at Home,’ a local restaurant and bar, was a close associate of the church’s General Overseer, Evangelist Maduabuchi Ernest, known as “Dibia Ekpere” or Father MEMC.

According to an anonymous source, the attackers, who numbered around eight and arrived in a red Highlander and a black Lexus, struck the church during a service around 4 p.m. They were reportedly seeking the General Overseer but, upon learning he was not present, became enraged.

The gunmen instructed the congregation to lie face down on the floor while they looted personal belongings, including phones, bags, and cash. As they fled, several gunshots were heard, followed by the discovery that Ogbonna had been fatally shot. He was reportedly pursued into a nearby bush after trying to evade capture.

The attackers also kidnapped two church members—a man and a nursing mother—but later released them along the Owerri-Orlu Expressway. In addition to the personal belongings, they stole the church owner’s vehicle.