An Abuja pastor named John Ogbonna, who had gone to pray and fast against the economic hardship in Nigeria, has been discovered dead on top of a mountain along Arab Road in Abuja.
The video of the deceased corpse, which has gone viral on social media since last Saturday, shows the pastor climbing the rugged mountain to pray for the country’s recovery from the present economic downturn. His dead body was discovered last Thursday on top of the mountain.
According to the Daily Trust, the deceased was from the Ohazara village in Ebonyi State and lived in Mpape, an Abuja neighbourhood in the FCT.
It was alleged that a man, Obinna Okorie, who identified the corpse, notified his relatives, who deployed to the mountain to bring down his corpse.
The source, Obinna Okorie who spoke with the newspaper reporter noted that the deceased was his neighbour at Mpape village and had been a committed Christian, preached about and always observe fasting.
He said, “Yes, I also saw the video and his relations were alerted, who mobilised to the mountain along Arab road and conveyed it to the mortuary.”
To verify the incident, the spokeswoman for the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh was contacted but could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, as the economic hardship in the country bites harder, the Nigerian Government has disbursed N24.78 billion to 991,261 poor households.
The initiative, themed: ‘The National Cash Transfer Program’ is spearheaded by the National Social Investment Programme Agency with beneficiaries across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
According to a statement on Thursday, NSIPA National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer, Badamasi Lawal, said the disbursement was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda aimed at cushioning the impact of high prices of goods and services as inflation stood at 32.15 percent in August, adding that the Federal Government had in August 2024 paid N3.83 billion to 153,038 households.
He explained that as of September 2024, the agency shared N20.96 billion among 838,223 households and each beneficiary household received N25,000 through their designated Financial Service Providers.
“The Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer is aimed to cushion the economic shocks of the beneficiaries who are mostly the poor and vulnerable Nigerian households,” the statement added