Several weeks after a woman was brutally beaten during a night Christian crusade in Cross River State, with one death reportedly linked to the incident, no arrests have been made and authorities remain largely silent.
On the night of 13 March, under dim lights and the sound of worship songs, a crowd gathered at a crusade ground in Onyadama community, Obubra Local Government Area of Cross River State, in the south-southern part of Nigeria.
The victim of the attack was Grace Ekoi, a woman who appeared to be in her 50s. She survived. But another person, according to community sources, died.
Several weeks later, no one has been arrested for the assault. There is no indication that a full investigation has begun.
Footage reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES shows at least eight individuals taking turns to flog a woman with long canes.
As the beating intensified, the woman attempted to run into the crowd. More men, women, and people of various ages joined in the assault.
A man’s voice could be heard on the microphone singing in the background as the congregants continued to clap.
The woman broke free at one point, ran towards the road. Voices shouted in Pidgin English, “She don run o.” She was chased, caught and beaten again, this time until she became motionless.
At some point a man approached with a bottle of what appeared to be olive oil, which many Pentecostal pastors in Nigeria use for “anointing” and “deliverance”. The man briefly halted the assault, poured the oil on her, and directed that she be lifted. Moments later, the beating resumed.
Ms Ekoi later stated in an interview that she attended the crusade to seek healing for her 14-month-old child, who could not walk.
“We went for crusade from Tuesday to Friday,” she said. “As I was breastfeeding my baby, they called me, ‘Come, come.’”
A church worker took the baby from her and handed the infant to another child.
“They said, ‘Stand here, witch!’ I said, ‘Witch how? I am not a witch. I thought you called me to pray for my baby.’”
She said the pastor presiding over the crusade ordered the attack.
“That crusade pastor said, ‘Beat her.’ Many people beat me with sticks. I kept screaming that I was not a witch.
“They used their legs to march me. He held microphone, ordered that I should be beaten.”
Her hands were later tied behind her back.
“It was a mass beating. All they kept saying was that I was a witch and that they would kill me.”
At some point, she said, she swore an oath in desperation: if she was a witch, she should not see the next day.
Investigations by PREMIUM TIMES identified the crusade organiser as Usetu Bassey, who operates under the name Kabod International Church.
A review of his social media activity shows frequent night crusades across northern Cross River, particularly in Ugep, Yakurr Local Government Area.
Photos posted on his Facebook page over the past three years show similar patterns of women lying on bare ground during services, with young men holding canes nearby. In a 10 December 2024 Facebook post, at least seven women were seen lying on the ground while others stood and watched. Another image from 2 April 2023 showed a woman who lay on the floor appearing unconscious during a crusade session.
When contacted, Mr Bassey dodged the questions PREMIUM TIMES asked.
He said community leaders were present at the crusade in Onyadama.
“I did a five days crusade at Onyadama which the chief/clan head was present and every other leaders. Do you think I will just go to a community and ask them to beat their own?”
He did not address the allegations that he incited the violence against the assaulted woman.
Onyadama is a farming community, where most residents depend on yam and cassava cultivation, as well as sand and gravel extraction, for their livelihoods.
The community is perhaps best known for its longstanding land and boundary dispute with the neighbouring Nko community in Yakurr Local Government Area. Over the years, the conflict has led to repeated outbreaks of violence, prompted government interventions and commissions of inquiry, and several attempts at peace settlements.
