A young man, from Umuezii community died in Burkina Faso in November
last year under mysterious circumstances. A month after, his sealed
body was brought back to Nigeria and was buried the same day in his
family compound in Umuezii, Nguru Mbaise, Imo State.
Trouble started when prophets and seers of the Chosen Church of God
prophesied that the dead-and-buried young man was still alive (six feet
beneath the earth) as his soul has persistently approached them via
telephone calls and other spiritual means, requesting immediate
exhumation. His elder sister, who is a member of the Chosen Church,
communicated this prophecy to the entire family, leading to a family
resolution insisting on the “divinely ordered” exhumation.
The decision to exhume the dead body did not go down well with the
community as such act was considered an abomination both under the
native tradition and under the prevailing Catholic norms deeply
established within the community. All entreaties to the family made by
the traditional ruler and parish priest of the St. Luke Catholic Church,
Umuezii to refrain from such religious charade fell on deaf ears. It
got to a point that the deceased family representatives openly accused
the church and community leaders of killing their late brother, and
preventing his “god-ordained” resurrection.
As a lasting solution to the impasse, the traditional ruler of the
community invited the Chosen Church seers and prophets to sign an
agreement of performance failing which they will be handed over to the
police authorities for prosecution. The second condition was that the
miracle will be performed in full public glare and in the presence of
other independent witnesses. Proudly beating their chests and boasting
deafeningly about their “majestic powers”, the seers and prophets signed
the agreement and a date was mutually agreed for the resurrection
miracle.
On the appointed day, a horde of prayer warriors, choristers, singers,
speaking-in-tongue experts, seers, prophets and the like stormed the
village as early as 6 a.m. The traditional ruler also invited the
police, radio commentators, reporters and correspondents from local
newspapers and the state-owned Imo Broadcasting Corporation. Chosen
Church of God seers boastfully started with an early morning prophecy
that the dead young man will “resurrect” by 12 noon prompt. The digging
up of the grave followed immediately until the body was exhumed.
Then the singing, violent shaking, screaming, cursing, loud yelling and
other theatrical displays in the name of deliverance prayers ensued
while the large crowd of keen onlookers watched with deep interest.
From 6.a.m till 12 noon, there was no sign that the young man was
preparing to wake let alone resurrect. Seeing that the 12 noon deadline
had passed, the seers quickly issued another prophecy shifting the hour
of resurrection to 3.p.m. By this time, the prayer and singing sessions
became even more intense and violent. 3 p.m came and went. No sign of
life. The Chosen Church prophets again, quickly handed down another
prophecy declaring 6.p.m as the divine resurrection hour. 6.p.m also
went by, and the dead man remained still, lifeless and unresurrected
till this day!
Understandably impatient and angry after the 6p.m deadline, the
policemen on standby arrested all the prophets, dancers, singers,
clappers and everybody that accompanied them to the community. But
before then, the Chosen Church prophets had forwarded messages to their
head office requesting for spiritual reinforcement. Undeterred by the
arrest of their team members, an additional team that arrived around 6
p.m continued with the prayer sessions even more aggressively and
vociferously. They prayed and sang all through the night till the
following morning. Still, no sign of resurrection! The police officers,
who had then totally run out of patience, arrested the remaining Chosen
Church members, and everyone connected to the resurrection miracle
including the deceased’s family representatives.
Some of the arrested Chosen Church members are currently on bail, while a
lot more are still in custody till date. The dead body was deposited at
the morgue at the Federal Medical Center, Owerri, as exhibit, pending
further police investigations and prosecution of the false prophets.
I was present at the New Year church service held at St Lukes Catholic
Church, Umuezii, Mbaise where the parish priest’s sermon harped on the
infiltration of false prophets into the Christendom, warning
parishioners to be wary of them. He then invited the members of the
deceased family to tender an unreserved apology to the community for the
abominable acts they committed. (PICTURED ABOVE) The deceased’s elder
sister tendered what seemed like a half-hearted apology on the family’s
behalf.
Culled from
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