The Priest-in-charge of the St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Ariaria in Abia North Local Government Area, Archdeacon Julius Dike, has been found dead with his wife and house help.
His wife, Agnes, was said to be a staff of the Aba South Local Government Area while the house help was said to be a relation of the wife.
Sources in the area told The Nation the priest retired to bed with the wife and house help after a crusade on Monday night without any sign of sickness.
It was gathered some of the parishioners who attended the morning service became apprehensive when the priest did not come out to conduct service.
None of his family member was also around to explain why he wasn’t seen yet.
Some members of the church were said to have gone to his apartment to inquire if all was well only to meet their doors locked.
No one responded to their calls, a development sources said were not usual with the priest and the family.
Worried by the situation, the parishioners were said to have summoned courage to break into their apartment only to meet the priest, the wife and their maid lifeless.
They were said to have been hurriedly moved them to a private hospital where they were confirmed dead.
A source in the church, who spoke anonymously, said that they were yet to know the cause of their death.
He stated that they are suspecting food poison as they could not trace any sign that they could have inhaled generator fume.
The source added that the children could have died along with their parents if not that they had gone back to their various boarding schools.
A police source, who said that they were yet to have an official report about the incident at the time of filing the report, stated that the police would quickly swing into action to unravel the cause of their mystrerious deaths.