… Pastor Flogged 13 years to death
Calabar, Cross River State – It was supposed to be an ordinary Sunday. A mother, desperate over her daughter’s repeated stealing, turned to the one man she believed could fix things: her pastor. But what happened inside the walls of that pastor’s home has now become an irreversible nightmare, a tragedy that has left a community shattered and a nation asking painful questions about discipline, faith, and blind trust.
A 45-year-old mother, identified simply as Agnes, has narrated the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the death of her 13-year-old daughter, who was allegedly flogged to death with a horsewhip by the very pastor she entrusted with the child’s spiritual and moral guidance.
The incident, which occurred on June 1, 2026, in the quiet Wula area of Boki Local Government Area, Cross River State, has since snowballed into a full-scale police investigation, with both the mother and the clergyman now in custody.
How It All Began: The Missing ₦30,000
According to accounts pieced together by police investigators and family sources, the tragedy was set in motion by a familiar domestic crisis: missing money.
Agnes, a struggling fish seller and mother of three, had kept ₦30,000 in her home—likely her hard-earned trading capital or savings meant for urgent family needs. When she needed the money and couldn’t find it, her suspicion immediately fell on her 13-year-old daughter, a girl she says had a troubling history of stealing from her.
This was not the first time. It was not the second. By Agnes’s own admission, her daughter had stolen from her repeatedly, and on more than 20 separate occasions, she had reported the girl’s behaviour to her pastor, Roman Samson, the founder and General Overseer of Goodness of Jesus Ministry.
But on June 1, Agnes decided that words and prayers were no longer enough. She wanted something more. She wanted the man of God to intervene with authority. So she took her daughter by the hand and led her to the pastor’s house.
What she didn’t know was that she was walking her child into a death trap.
“I Only Wanted Him To Counsel Her”
Speaking with the raw emotion of a mother whose world has collapsed, Agnes has fiercely denied ever asking Pastor Samson to flog her daughter, let alone whip her to the point of death.
“It is true that I took my daughter to the pastor after I discovered that my ₦30,000 was missing from where I kept it,” Agnes recounted, her voice likely trembling as she spoke to investigators and journalists. “That was not the first time she had stolen my money, and it was not the first time I had reported her to the pastor.”
She continued, painting a vivid picture of what happened next: “That day, I took her to my pastor’s house because she refused to disclose where she kept my money. While we were there, she confessed to stealing the money and told me that she had kept it in one of her trousers.”
Upon hearing the confession, Agnes’s immediate instinct was to verify. She sprang up and rushed back home to search the trousers her daughter had identified. There, tucked inside the pocket, she found her ₦30,000. Relief must have washed over her momentarily. But that relief was short-lived.
“That was when I quickly stood up to confirm where she kept the money, and I found my ₦30,000 in the pocket of one of her trousers,” Agnes explained. “The pastor had not beaten her when I left to search for the money. It was while I was returning that I saw him rushing my daughter to the hospital. I met him on the way.”
What transpired between the moment Agnes left and the moment she returned has become the subject of a criminal investigation. But the outcome is undisputed: a 13-year-old girl, full of life and possibility, was dead before she could reach medical help.
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Agnes, now a suspect herself, has been left to grapple with an unimaginable guilt. “I didn’t tell him to kill my daughter,” she insisted. “I had reported her to the pastor before, and I only wanted him to scold and counsel her. I was not there when he beat my daughter. I only saw him taking her to the hospital.”
The Pastor’s Confession: “I Gave Her 13 To 15 Strokes”
On the other side of this tragedy stands Pastor Roman Samson, a 45-year-old cleric who, by his own admission, has spent years building a ministry and serving as a spiritual father to Agnes and her children.
Samson, who spoke to newsmen after his arrest, did not deny beating the girl. In fact, he confessed to it with startling detail. But his version of events sharply contradicts that of the grieving mother.
“My name is Roman Samson. I am 45 years old and I am the founder and General Overseer of Goodness of Jesus Ministry,” he began, as if introducing himself from the pulpit. “Before I started my own ministry, I worked in different ministries, including Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Mount Sinai Church, Minister of God Church, and others.”
Samson narrated how he had known Agnes for about four years, ever since she came to him broken and rejected after a marital crisis. “I met Mrs Peter about four years ago when she had a misunderstanding with her husband. She had three children for him, but he sent her away. I don’t know what happened between them. The man was not a member of my church. It was only the woman and her children who attended my church.”
The pastor painted himself as a benefactor, a man who stepped in when no one else would. “When the woman came, she had nothing. She had been rejected by her husband with two children. I began supporting their education and upkeep. God answered the woman’s prayers through me and she started selling fish.”
But there was a persistent problem: the girl’s stealing. According to Samson, it was a deeply entrenched behaviour that no amount of scolding could cure. “The girl had been stealing her mother’s money. Each time the woman complained, I would appeal to her to remain calm. I would call the girl and scold her. That happened more than 20 times.”
Then came June 1, the day everything changed forever.
“On June 1 this year, the woman brought the girl to my house herself. She complained that the girl had stolen her money again. She also said the girl was in the habit of sleeping away from home. She told me the girl stole her ₦30,000 and asked me to beat her. She also said she had already beaten her but wanted me to beat her as well.”
This is the critical point of disagreement. Agnes says she wanted counselling. Samson insists she demanded corporal punishment. Somewhere between these two accounts lies a truth that only the courts can determine.
What is not in dispute is what Samson did next. “I went for my horsewhip and started beating her. I gave her about 13 to 15 strokes before I noticed she had become very weak. I quickly rushed her to the hospital, but she died before we got there.”
Thirteen to fifteen strokes of a horsewhip on the body of a 13-year-old child. The image is as horrifying as it is heartbreaking.
Samson, now facing the full weight of the law, expressed remorse but also sought to deflect blame. “I feel very sad. I didn’t want to kill her. It was her mother who insisted that I should beat her. She was like a daughter to me.”
Police Confirm Arrests, Launch Full Investigation
The Cross River State Police Command has confirmed that both Agnes and Pastor Roman Samson are in custody as investigations continue into what has been classified as a homicide case.
A police source at the Homicide Section of the State Police Command, who spoke to newsmen on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the case, provided a timeline of events.
“It happened on June 1 this year, when the mother took her 13-year-old daughter to her pastor’s house over an allegation of stealing,” the source said. “The woman complained that she had kept ₦30,000 at home and could not find the money when she needed it. She accused her 13-year-old daughter of stealing the money. That was the reason she took her to her pastor’s house.”
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The source added the chilling detail that sealed the tragic arc: “The woman left the poor girl alone with the pastor, but by the time she returned, the pastor had allegedly flogged the girl with a horsewhip and was about taking her to the hospital, where she was confirmed dead.”
Police Command Reaffirms Commitment To Justice
The spokesperson for the Cross River State Police Command, ASP Eitokpah Sunday, officially confirmed the arrests and used the opportunity to reaffirm the Command’s commitment to protecting lives and property across the state.
“The Cross River State Police Command appreciates the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, for his unwavering support towards operational effectiveness, intelligence gathering, tactical policing, and the provision of strategic resources that have continued to strengthen the command’s capacity to combat kidnapping, violent crimes, and other emerging security threats,” ASP Sunday stated.
He continued: “The Command acknowledges that the sustained intelligence and operational support from the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force have significantly enhanced crime-fighting efforts across Cross River State. The successes recorded by its operatives in various operations are a testament to the professionalism, bravery, and dedication of officers and men who continue to deploy intelligence-driven strategies to deny criminal elements the opportunity to operate.”
In a direct message to the public, ASP Sunday added: “The Cross River State Police Command, under the leadership of CP Rashid Bello Afegbua, assures residents of its unwavering commitment to sustaining the ongoing offensive against criminality and dismantling all criminal networks operating within the state and its environs. The Command therefore urges members of the public to continue partnering with the police by providing timely, credible and actionable information, which remains critical to the collective effort of safeguarding lives and property.”
A Nation Reflects: When Discipline Becomes Death
This case has ignited a firestorm of debate across Nigeria. Where does discipline end and brutality begin? Can a man of God, entrusted with the spiritual care of his flock, also serve as an instrument of violent punishment? And what drives a mother to hand over her child to someone else for correction, only to lose that child forever?
As Agnes sits in a police cell, replaying the events of June 1 over and over in her mind, and as Pastor Roman Samson contemplates the ruin of his ministry and his life, one fact remains tragically unchanged: a 13-year-old girl, whose only crime was stealing her mother’s money, is dead. She will never grow up. She will never have a chance to change. She will never be counselled, prayed for, or loved back onto the right path.
Her death is a wound that will never fully heal—and a stark warning to every parent, every pastor, and every community that entrusts its children to the hands of others.
