Since last week, the media have been buzzing with the travails of popular Lagos pastor, Ofuche Ukoha. Dr Sign Fireman, as he is better known, was arrested last week by the Lagos State Police Command over links to the alleged ritual murder of a 12-year-old girl in Badagry. Dr Fireman is the General Overseer of Perfect Christianity Mission, Aguda, Surulere, Lagos.
The police claimed that the victim in the alleged murder, Bose, daughter of a food seller in Badagry, was strangled by an 18-year-old man who admitted that he was contracted by the pastor to fetch him some excreta of a virgin, with a promise to reward him with the sum of N100, 000.
That was a development that was widely discussed last week following the claim that he was arrested and being investigated.
But last Sunday, Dr Fireman showed that he might have gone past his travails when he sauntered into his church. Spotting a grey jacket and looking calm and unruffled, he was greeted with rapturous ovation when he stepped into the church auditorium. But during the short while that he spoke, he made no comments on the ritual murder scandal even as many would have wanted to hear him state his own side of the story.
During the occasion, Dr Fireman whom his faithful prodigiously call “Daddy,” was accompanied by Apostle Samson Ayorinde of the World Evangelism Bible Church, Ogudu, Lagos. With him also was a guest preacher, Reverend Joshua from Port Harcourt.
As early as 8am, worshipers had started arriving in their large numbers at the church. From across the city, they came in their personal cars, chartered commercial buses and long, mass transit buses belonging to the church. In a short while, every inch of space on the close was taken up. As time progressed, other vehicles began to park anywhere on Brown road.
Dr Fireman’s church is sandwiched by the Mountain of Fire and Miracles (MFM), Surulere Regional Headquarters 14 and the Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah Witness. Still under construction, the church, which could seat no fewer than 5,000 worshipers, has its roof supported by metal pillars. The inner parts of its encasing wall and ceiling are gradually shaping up with exotic wall ties and ceiling boards.
On that fateful morning, worship songs were already being rendered by junior pastors of the church. In the large congregation were thousands of worshipers: children, young adults, men and women. There were ushers in tight-fitting jean trousers, worshipers in party-going attire, moderate and somber dresses. The church was already taking testimonies from the worshipers, many of whom came out on the altar.
It was about 10am, when an uproar broke out. First timers could have mistaken the ‘crazy moment’ for the long-awaited rapture which will take place some day. But they were wrong. Everyone was screaming; some were blowing their whistles; the choir members began playing their respective instruments with heightened ecstasy. It then dawned on everyone that Dr Fireman had come.
“I love you like crazy,” Dr Fireman breathed into the microphone which he instantly grabbed to address his flock.
“Sometime last year, God told me He shall ‘explode’ you. But how he is going to do that, I don’t know.”
As he paused to allow for the dramatic, the congregation expectedly erupted again with wide ecstasy, screaming “We love you daddy ooo!”
He then proceeded to introduce his guests, one of them being Apostle Ayorinde who while addressing the congregation said: “God has assured me that He will prosper you. And what makes a ministry prosper? They are three: the supply of men, money and anointing. I tell you, this church is due for revival no matter the storm. You are going to see a better 2014,” he assured, disclosing that “we have been praying and the Lord says the storm is over.”
When the microphone returned to Dr Fireman, he invited the congregation to read from Genesis Chapter 45:3: “Joseph said to his brothers ‘I am Joseph; is your father still alive?’ But when his brothers heard this, they were so terrified that his brothers could not answer.” He used the portion apparently to refer the congregation to the ordeal which he had been put through in the past days.
Shortly after that, a call was made on the congregation to come tap into the anointing of their General Overseer with no fewer than N1,000, and soon the altar which stood right in the middle of the auditorium, was besieged by a multitude who heeded the call with several others waiting endlessly on the queue as the cleric took his time to touch and bless every one of them who came out to answer the call.
When the testimony session resumed, many had forgotten that a lot more people were still standing on the altar arena to address the congregation. After each one had narrated all what God had done for them in the past days, the congregation was invited to tap into their respective favour with their seed offering. You guessed rightly: the number of those outings was endless.
Two men who were part of the testifiers within the short time said a few things about what people said about the scandal that hit their “daddy.” The first said: “When the news broke, I knew that it was the work of the devil to run down our daddy and the church.” He was not allowed to go too far by the moderator, apparently to cut down on the time. Then the second man said: “Some people who heard about the development had threatened to burn my car. But I thank God that he did not allow that to happen.”
With the conclusion of the testimony time, Dr Fireman went ahead to introduce Pastor Joshua as the guest speaker “who will be preaching for about one hour to change people’s lives.” The pastor, who delivered the message: Your funeral is over, based his sermon on the book of Luke 7:15.
He told his listeners that “as I entered this arena, God told me that He will no longer open the door to members of this church but a gate as long as you remain connected to Him. A gate is by far bigger than a door. When God opens a gate, through that you will bring in your limousine; through that you will bring in your containers.”
Continuing, Pastor Joshua, who said he hailed from Ubakala in Umuahia, Abia State, prophesied that a man in the congregation would be favoured by the 2015 election but did not say the party whose banner the fellow would be carrying. He told the crowd that “this year, your enemy will stand up because of you,” with members of the congregation screaming a deafening amen which could be heard a kilometre or two off at every pause.
Revealing that he had a calling to make pillars in their families, communities and the country, he called on the congregation to march out and hold some of the pillars in the church with a promise to bring certain amounts of money the next day before 12 noon.
The invitation started with those who could pay the sum of N500,000 with no worshiper making a commitment. He then invited people to make a commitment of N100, 000, N30, 000, N10, 000, N1, 000 and N500 respectively with the worshipers lining out to be prayed for with a promise to pay the sum they could.
Pastor Joshua, who conducted proceedings in smattering English, made no mistake in telling the flock that his quest for formal education ended in primary three. He told the compelling story of his struggle with poverty and how he had miraculously risen to conquer it, with everyone listening with rapt attention.
“My father was the poorest in the community.
My mother had eight children and we all slept on the mat in a one-room apartment. Anytime any of us contracted a disease, almost all of us were infected because as each one breathed out carbon dioxide, the other inhaled it. One Christmas season, the rice we ate was collected from the community’s dustbin. After others had thrown away their leftovers after December 25, my mother sent us out to collect them. When we returned home, she washed everything that we returned with, boiled it and mashed it with oil and we ate joyfully.”
Pastor Joshua also told the gripping story of how he left home with N300, being the money his mother saved after his father’s death and headed for Port Harcourt where he knew no one and miraculously found his footing as a preacher. He said his break with poverty came when a man he had prayed for took him to Australia on evangelical work. Several months later, he returned with tons of dollars which, when converted to naira, amounted to several millions of naira.
“I rented a flat with the money, locked myself therein with my stick and began to flog the money,” he said. Then he turned to his listeners: “This year, many of you will flog money.”
And the resounding “amen!” could be heard many miles off.
No comments:
Post a Comment