Pastor Prosper Igboke died of mental health issue. Various stories have trailed the death of pastor of a Pentecostal Church (name withheld) in Nnewi, Anambra State. It is alleged that he committed suicide after he jumped down from a two-storey building in Nnewi.

Sources in the area said Igboke jumped down from the two-storey building and died instantly after he was jilted by his lover, whom he had spent so much on.

A relative of the deceased who spoke to journalists on Saturday, said the 30-year-old man from Leru community in Umunneochi Local Government Area, Abia State, had trained his lover in the university, after which she declined his marriage proposal.

He said, “The incident happened last month. The man (Igboke) was 30 years old at the time of his death. His girlfriend, whom he intended to marry disappointed him after seeing her through the university.

“He jumped down from a two-storey building and died. I am surprised that a man of this age and a pastor can do this.”

However a maternal cousin of the deceased, Promise Ikpe on Saturday took to his Facebook page to debunk the report, while revealing what led to his death. According to Ikpe, the clergyman did not die by suicide and wasn’t jilted by his girlfriend.

Ikoe said though he jumped down from a two-story building, it wasn’t a conscious attempt to kill himself because he was battling with some mental health issues, which he suddenly developed: and so cannot be held liable for his death. Ikpe also said the girlfriend spoke with his mum, telling her that she never betrayed him.

Ikpe, whose mother’s maiden name is Cecilia Igboke and is a younger sibling to Prosper’s father, Bestman Igboke, said: “I did this post to correct some of the false narratives flying around.”

He wrote: “This is the report of what happened prior to his death.

“Prosper went for a ministration in Nnewi, and when he came back, he had lost his senses, he wasn’t mentally coordinated.

“No one knew why. His pastor locked him up and asked some people to watch over him while he went to a meeting instead of taking him to a hospital to find out why he wasn’t mentally coordinated.

“Prosper jumped from the window of the room he was locked in

“His pastor refused to give us his phone to investigate what happened to date. Pastor said Prosper had gifted him the phone.”

Chikwendu Anugba, a writer and another cousin of the deceased, also took to his Facebook page to debunk the report.

Anugba wrote: “Blogs went to market with the story that Obum committed suicide because he was jilted by his girlfriend who he trained in the university.

“I was wondering when he became rich and we didn’t know. Because the story did fit into certain narratives, the agendaists picked it up and ran without looking back. They said he committed suicide because of heartbreak. Meanwhile, the poor girl they maligned stood with the family in the time of grief.

According to their village tradition, the relative said he was buried in a forest for committing “sacrilege”. He was eventually buried on Friday in a bush in his community.

“He was buried in our farmlands not because he committed suicide. But because in our tradition, it’s seen as an abomination for parents to bury their children.

“It is the duty of children to bury their parents. When a single man or woman dies, the corpse is buried far from the village so the grave won’t be a source of grief for his parents.” Anugba added.