Adamawa Cleric Killed In Night Attack

 Rev Denis Bagauri

A cleric, Rev Denis Bagauri, has been killed at his residence in Mayo Belwa, Adamawa State.

Sources said Monday morning that the reverend, a pastor with the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), an indigenous christian denomination deeply ascribed to by Adamawa Christians, was attacked over the night by unknown gunmen.

The sources said he lost his life in the middle of the night when persons, who are yet to be identified, stormed his house at the Nasarawo Gereng Area of Mayo Belwa, headquarters of the Mayo Belwa local government Area, and gunned him down.

One of his friends, Alhaji Muhammad Buba, who lives in Mayo Belwa but had not known of the incident until our correspondent called him, made enquiries and called back.

He said, “It is true. They killed him yesterday in the night. They came to his house and killed him. A family member that I called told me they have taken his corpse to the mortuary.”

Apart from his calling as an ordained pastor, Reverend Denis Bagauri was a politician who shot to limelight during the governorship reign of Murtala Nyako when he became the liaison between the governor and Christians around the state, a role which earned him the nickname, Pastor Nyako.

Bagauri seemed to have won himself a huge reputation with that role, as he retained it under the last administration, and functioned as Senior Special Assistant on Religion Matters to Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow.

Associates and friends of the late Denis say he was an easy-going man who lived peacefully with all and sundry.

His friend Muhammad Buba who is the Adamawa State Public Relations Officer of Miyetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), said of the late Denis, “I knew him well. He was my friend, a nice politician who related cordially with persons and organisations.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Sulaiman Nguroje, was yet to get back with the answer to inquiries regarding the slain reverend when this report was concluded Monday morning.