A Magistrate Court in Osogbo, Osun State, has remanded a 42-year-old man, Wale Ogunsanmi, for allegedly stabbing to death Bishop Shina Olaribigbe, the founder of Rapture Empowerment International Church. The tragic incident occurred on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2025, at approximately 8:55 p.m. in the Fan Milk area of Ajegunle, Osogbo.
According to the charge sheet, marked MoS/19c/2025, the Osun State Police Command’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arraigned Ogunsanmi on a single count of murder. The document, signed by B. Adaraloye, head of the legal/prosecution section of the CID, stated that the offense contravenes Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap 33, Volume 1, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2002.
Presiding Magistrate A. O. Odeleye declined to take the defendant’s plea, citing lack of jurisdiction. Ogunsanmi has been remanded in Ilesa Correctional Centre pending further proceedings. The court adjourned the case for a later date.
The Osun State Police Command spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, disclosed that the suspect attacked the bishop after allegedly discovering him in the company of his estranged wife. Reports revealed that the woman, an interpreter at the bishop’s church, had separated from Ogunsanmi a year ago due to unresolved marital disputes.
“The bishop was in the woman’s residence when her estranged husband arrived and stabbed him several times, suspecting an affair between them,” Opalola explained.
Sources revealed that Bishop Olaribigbe had previously mediated in the couple’s marital issues before their separation. On the night of the incident, Ogunsanmi allegedly broke into the woman’s home and attacked the bishop in her bedroom.
Police operatives from the Dugbe Division arrested Ogunsanmi at the scene and recovered the murder weapon. The bishop’s body was subsequently deposited at the UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital Mortuary, Osogbo, for an autopsy.
The case has reignited conversations about domestic violence and jealousy-related crimes, with community leaders and activists calling for justice and a deeper focus on addressing mental health and conflict resolution in marriages.
