Facts have emerged on the circumstances surrounding the death of Pastor Taiwo Odukoya. He was the founder of Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, Lagos.
Pastor Odukoya died in the United States of America (USA), on Monday at 67.
Family sources said that: “He really didn’t get over the losses he suffered. Pastor Taiwo Odukoya tried to be strong but there is a limit to what a man can take.
“Pastor Taiwo Odukoya lost his charismatic first wife, Bimbo, in a Sosoliso plane crash in 2005. She was 45.
“Pastor Taiwo Odukoya was more devastated by what people said after Pastor Bimbo died than what actually happened.
“Many people said nasty things that saddened his heart. Pastor Taiwo Odukoya was touched by the savagery of the comments.
“Well, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya had no choice and decided to move on despite the heart break. It took a lot of talking for him to decide to remarry,” the source shared.
On November 9, 2021, death came knocking on his door again. This time, it took his second wife, Pastor Nomthi, a South African, away. Nomthi, who died of cancer, was 47 and had two children for the preacher.
“If Pastor Bimbo’s death was shattering, Pastor Nomthi’s demise was a technical knock-out. It knocked pastor down and out. Pastor Taiwo Odukoya was inconsolable. He was very bothered about what people would say.
“It left him totally lifeless. There was nothing we could tell him. It took something deep out of Pastor Taiwo Odukoya and some of us became afraid for him.”
Pastor Odukoya lost his twin sister few weeks after his second wife’s death. Sources said his twin sister’s death was more or less the last straw.
It was a death too many for someone who has lost two important women in his life. It was tough to take the death of someone with whom Pastor Odukoya shared his womb and childhood.
“It was a personal, humbling tragedy. Pastor Odukoya would just gaze and seemed to become completely disinterested in things around him. It was unusual to become totally lost in conversations and issues.
“I believe something died in him at that point. Pastor Odukoya tried to put up a strong face for the church but he was human. He was dead within and it was only a matter of time.
“That Pastor Odukoya lived for almost two years after showed the strength of his character,” the family source explained.
The health challenges, it was learnt, started showing up, knocking Pastor Odukoya off.
The health challenges necessitated overseas medical trips from which Pastor Taiwo Odukoya never recovered.
•Culled Balogun Olamilekan’s wall on Facebook, with some editing.
