By Oyinlola Awonuga-Balogun (The New Diplomat’s Entertainment, Fashion & Sports Desk)
Founder and Lead Pastor of Fulfilling-Word Foundation Church based in Rivers State, Essa Ogorry, died on Tuesday, exactly 10 days after cancelling a wedding over lateness of the couple. He was 55.
According to a member of the church who craves anonymity, Essa’s death came roughly a year after the death of his wife, Tonyemieba. They are survived by a 17-year-old.
The source close to Ogorry said, “My pastor has gone on to be with the Lord. He had health issues even before the wedding saga. We took him to the hospital and he had to come from Lagos to attend the wedding.
“He tried to preach the Sunday after the wedding but he was not in his normal strength. He went back to the hospital and he gave up yesterday (Tuesday) morning.”
“He celebrated his 55th birthday on February 9, last week. He lost his wife last year, on February 16, 2020…” the source added.
News about the Late preacher went viral recently over his refusal to join an intending couple over their lateness to the wedding service.
Speaking on the ‘cancelled’ wedding, the source said the groom and the bride had previously signed a document that the pastor had the right not to join them together as husband and wife if they came late on the wedding day.
Describing the late preacher as a “father, a perfectionist and a disciplinarian”, the source said the ‘cancelled’ wedding which occurred on February 6, 2021, was not the first of such but added that the late preacher usually did join intending couples later on the same day after entreaties.
He however noted that the February 6 incident was different because the groom rained insults on the pastor:
“He (Ogorry) came that day and waited for five minutes. Before the day, he did interviews with the intending couple and he told them not to allow him look bad in the face of the congregation because that kind of thing had happened before when intending couples came so late and all the members would be waiting for them…the couple in question… came over 15 minutes late and pastor had already gone into his office as he was not feeling well.
“The bride came to pastor and pleaded. Pastor considered going on with the wedding. He requested that he join them in his office as he wasn’t feeling well but the groom and his family rained insults on him. An uproar ensued and pastor left the church.”
The source further said the church leaders and the family of the late pastor will meet to decide on the funeral arrangements.
Efforts to reach the state chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Reverend Dagogo Jack, for comments proved abortive as his handset was switched off.
Meanwhile, friends and members of the church have started paying tributes to the departed pastor on social media.
