The Directorate for State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police have failed to take up an invitation earlier extended to them by Dr Chris Okafor, senior pastor and founder of the Grace Nation Church International, Lagos to come dig up the church’s altar to ascertain whether or not recent claims by Nollywood actress, Doris Ogala that there was a buried human corpse was indeed true.
Ogala trended in December following disclosures she made about a purported romantic relationship she had with the pastor, while seeking reparations for being dumped in favour of another woman he went on to marry in a colourful ceremony in Lagos on Wednesday, December 16, 2025.
A tearful Ogala had in a no-holds-barred exposè on her Instagram page accused the pastor of reneging on his promise to marry her after making her dump her husband of many years, and claiming that she also aborted babies for him.
But perhaps the most damaging of her accusations was that the Anambra-born preacher also harboured the bizarre secret of a buried human corpse on his church’s altar.
“Believe me, Chris Okafor buried a corpse on his church’s altar,” Ogala had said in one of her videos.
But, the celebrity televangelist and prophet would kick the allegations into touch in what appeared his first official response to the barrage of criticisms which filled the air in a live stream of a church service he superintendented over on Sunday, December 28, 2025.
“The other day, there was an allegation that someone was buried on this church’s altar. Hold on. When this altar was built, I was not even in Nigeria. I was in a conference far away outside of the country,” Dr Okafor began in the televised broadcast now still trending on YouTube.
“However, to remove all doubts and to firmly establish the veracity or otherwise of the claims, I am openly inviting the DSS, the Nigeria Police, and all other constituted government authorities. They should come and break the altar. I am ready to sponsor it. And let it be televised live, and I’ll sponsor it,” he said.
Observers have hailed the boldness of the pastor’s move, saying it spoke volumes about his real desire to have the contentious issue laid to rest.
Some have also wondered why the security agencies would fail to accept the invitation as a way of establishing the authenticity of the claims, while dissipating energy on yet another unverified murder claims allegedly involving the pastor which the Lagos State Police authorities are said to be more interested in.
“I read somewhere that the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Olohundare Jimoh had ordered an investigation into an alleged murder case involving Dr Chris Okafor, while conveniently failing to accept his invitation to break up his church’s altar to ascertain whether Doris Ogala’s claims of a buried human corpse was actually true. It is baffling to me,” an observer who prefers anonymity said.