Minister Osinachi’s death was avoidable, she won’t be the first & might not be the last – Rev. Oluoma

Rev. Fr. John Chinenye Oluoma, a Priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja has spoken out on the death of the late gospel minister, Minister Osinachi. He revealed this in a recent post on his official Facebook page (Fada Oluoma).

He revealed that in one of the parishes he worked, a woman always came to him with a bloodied nose and swollen face, a fatal decoration from the man she called her husband. It was always a dilemma counselling her because he could see her helplessness. The next thing she feared more than losing her life to her beastly husband was actually losing her marriage to him. To worsen her case, she didn’t have anything to do economically.

Long story short, he finally convinced her to run for her life, after receiving more bouts of life-threatening beatings. He paid for her transportation to her Uncle’s house and after two weeks, she came telling him that the man called and begged her to come back. She was obviously looking for his approval for her chicken-hearted and Lilly livered disposition. “In my magnanimity, I chased her back to her uncle’s house,” he said. After some months, the man went to beg. When he was consulted, he told the uncle to give the man two major conditions: 1. Empower the woman economically. 2. Deposit an undertaken never to beat her with the police and the uncle.

Further, he said that death in marriage by the hand of an abusive spouse is avoidable, so don’t honor it. We all woke up to the sad news of the death of Osinachi, a gospel singer, famously known for the song Ekwueme. Suddenly, the cause of her death started filtering. He said that he is now reading that she died from injuries from violence by her husband. The news going around now is that she’s been enduring this violence for years. So, her death, for him, was avoidable and he claimed that whatever made her stay in that marriage despite constant life-threatening violence can never be godly.

He then said that if spousal violence is the cause of Osinachi’s death, she won’t be the first and she might not the last, but he hopes her’s will help in the liberation of many women in such situations. According to him, the Catholic Church has no place for divorce in marriage, it’s not a lexicon in catholic sacramental theology. Yet, there’s separation and dissolution. Separation is allowed when the life of any spouse is realistically threatened. It’s called separation from board and bed.

He then advised that you run away from the spouse that wants to kill you by any means, run for your life. “Some women find it difficult to run because the man is their only source of sustenance, this is why Osinachi’s case befuddles me,” he said. She’s a celebrity, so he said that he does not think she can’t cater for herself or her kids in the event of separation if the story is true.

Finally, he advised that ladies should get a job or career, or trade. They should just have something doing for a living as marriage is not eminent or social welfare for jobless women. He said that if your husband is financially buoyant and negotiates with you to stay off work for the sake of raising your children, that’s fine, but insist on him paying you a reasonable amount you fix in an account for as long as you stay home for the kids. May the soul of Osinachi and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace