the heartrending account of how this middle-aged widow went to hell and came back alive to tell her story.
Unforgettable Day
I had lived in Lagos where I had all my kids. But later, I lost my husband. Some time ago, I went back to Lagos to find what to do to take care of my two sets of twins. I was a full-time housewife when I had my children. I intended going back to school to further my education but my husband, an Ogoni, from Rivers State, stopped me because I was too young, and we agreed that I could go back to school when I finished having my babies. But later, things became tough because my husband was a businessman.
When he died, I had to return to Benue State because I was the firstborn of my parents and I didn't want to take my children to Rivers State because Benue has more food. So, I returned to Lagos, and that was when I met a man. He owns an oil and gas company (name withheld) and he employed me personally as a marketer, canvassing for people who would buy oil, diesel, fuel and all that.
On this fateful day, I went to see my father who was ill and on admission at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. There was something they needed for my father's treatment and they didn't have it in Ibadan. So, they wrote it down for me to buy and I went to Boluke Pharmacy on Awolowo Way in Ikeja. As soon as I walked out from the pharmacy because I lived at Ojodu Berger, I saw Aisha, a lady I had met long ago at the office of my cousin who was a stylist and we became friends.
The lady is from Igbira in Kogi State. She wanted us to talk about a supply contract she had. I suggested that we sat in an eatery on Allen Avenue, but she said there was a new eatery on Toyin Street where we could talk. There was a young man by her side that she introduced to me as her fiancé, adding that they were going to wed in two months'. We jumped into the young man's car and they assured me that from the eatery, they would take the expressway, drop me and then go back to Ogba. When we got to that place, the man horned and the gate was opened. We saw a lot of cars outside because it was an estate. Inside the house, people sat with their girlfriends, drinking and eating. I didn't know that they were members of a satanic group. My friend drank beer and after apologizing that she had no money to buy me wine, she gave me water.
Evil chief
At a stage, a man gorgeously dressed in native attire (names withheld), came in and walked to our table. A lot of them got up and greeted him. I also got up and greeted him. After a glance at me, he asked why I was not drinking and he bought Campari for me. He opened the bottle and I took a glass and because nobody was interested, I dropped the bottle in my bag.
After my discussion with the lady, I waited for them to drop me off as earlier agreed but the young man said he wanted to ease himself but never came back. After about 10 minutes, the lady, left in search of her fiancé, leaving her bag behind. After a long wait, I became worried and told the barman that I was leaving. As I walked towards the gate, the gateman shut it.
The chief shows up
When I turned, I saw the gorgeously dressed man walking towards the gate. I thanked him for the entertainment and told I was leaving. The man said: "Do you know who you are talking to? You are an idiot! Common, shut up! Don't you know I am a chief?" Later, he said in Yoruba: "Omo Oba", and some young men including two that looked like bouncers came. On his orders, they collected my handset and handbag, and took me upstairs.
So, they took me upstairs and flung me into one room and shut the door. Inside the room, I saw many clothes, bags and more than 1000 SIM cards. About 15 minutes later, the man appeared and ordered me to, "pull off everything and drop it there", and I obeyed.
Unconscious
By then, I was no longer in full control of my senses. Before he came up, I prayed that if the man had been killing people, I should not be his victim. As a Christian, I understand that there is power in the tongue and I declared, "Right now as I sit here, let the blood of Jesus take over before they think about anything. I worship with Living Faith.
They removed my earrings
About seven boys were at the man's beck and call. He didn't touch you; all he did was give orders. He came back as I was still putting on my pants and brassiere and said: "Are you stupid? I said anything that represents a material on your body should be taken away. Why are you still with all these?" So, I removed everything and they took me to the next room and locked me up. Throughout that night, they jubilated and drank. Apparently, due to the glass of Campari that I took, I was very tired and having cried and prayed for long, I became weak, and slept off.
Angels to the rescue
I slept until 3am and that was when I regained consciousness and realized I was in a strange place. I prayed till after 4am and at about 5 am, the man came into the room and asked me, "Are you a witch?" and I said, "No sir." Then, he said: "What have I done to you that you beat me all night long, and didn't allow me to sleep?" It was a strange question for me to answer. I begged and told him that I had no strength to fight. He said, "shut up", and slapped me.
You see, I strongly believe that this incident happened in order for me to believe in the power of God because I didn't believe in miracles. When people said they received miracles, I just looked at them with disdain. But this time, I became a personal testimony. I begged the man and he started beating me. The way he punched me, if God was not by my side, even if I escaped, I would have died or needed a lot of money to fix my bones. But for each blow he hit me, I felt nothing. Each time he hit, and I shouted, "Jesus", I felt as if someone had touched an empty carton. Then, he said if I had any prayer, I should pray because he was seriously going to work on me. He said he had worked on so many people by removing their private parts, eyes, tongues and other vital organs.
House of death
He told me that no one came to the house and escaped. Honestly, that house was designed for killing people. If God was not by your side, you can never escape from that house. Most times, the boys were downstairs drinking and smoking.
I socialized with them by asking for cigarette hoping that if I did what they were doing, they would set me free. If I requested for cigarette they would quickly bring cigarette for me. One day, I requested for food and they said in Yoruba that after all, it was my last food. It was rice and meat but I couldn't eat it.
Day Two
On the second day, the boys argued among themselves in Yoruba and I could pick some meaning. They said: "Ah, kilode? Se this thing wey oga bring no be wahala o. We don tell oga make e leave her, make i go because oga no dey waste time. Anybody wey dem bring come na one day. One day don pass, two days don pass and still we don't even know what the shrine is saying." They consult a shrine to know a victim's worth.
Day Three
On the third day, the man came to me and said: "What kind of hairstyle is this (I had a hairstyle called fishtail)? This hair is the one tormenting you. You are a very nice person. This hair is what is tormenting you. Don't panic, they will remove this hair style, so that you can be free."
They called me Samson
I heard them say in Yoruba, "Samson ni o", that may be, I am Samson in the Bible. They suspected that they couldn't kill me because I have the same powers as the biblical Samson. They threw a bedcover to me and told me to tie it so that they could take me downstairs.
The house was very large and people lived in the boys' quarters with their families apparently, without knowing what the man did. Or maybe they knew but were scared? So, they took me downstairs to cut my hairs and as I stepped down, I saw that the gate was opened and then a Mallam pushed in a wheelbarrow with kegs of water. He was their barber but he came with water so that people would think he hawked water. As soon as they came in, some people started emptying the water inside the gutter and thereafter, they returned the gallons to the wheelbarrow and took me near the swimming pool, and I kept praying.
One good thing was that at that point, my faith had risen by 100 per cent and I knew for sure that I was not going to die because the Lord was with me. They made me sit on a chair by the swimming pool and the Mallam cut all my hair and dropped them on the ground. As he dropped the hair, I found out that in the past, some hairs were burnt on that spot. After cutting my hair, he shaved my head with a razor blade.
I don't understand Hausa but on that day, this Spirit came upon me and I spoke Hausa to the Mallam. I asked him whether that was what the man does to people and he said I should not worry, that the man was a nice man, that he would give me money to go when I am ready to go. I asked why the haircut but before I could get an answer, the evil chief came out of the house and the Mallam quickly shut me up. By this time, more than 12 of the boys had surrounded me, watching as my hair was being cut. Later, they brought a small bowl containing some concoction.
I think they chanted some incantations inside it before the man said: "See, they have cut your hair; you can imagine how beautiful you look. Drink a little of this water, use the remaining to wash your head and go upstairs. I will give you your clothes to wear and then you will go home." I dipped my hands inside that water and said, "God, because the blood of Jesus Christ supercedes every other blood and that is the only currency that binds everywhere in the world, let this currency in the blood of Jesus Christ buy my life now." I prayed within my heart.
They ordered me to hurry up and do what they asked me to do. So, I drank a little of the liquid and washed my hair. They brought something like a detergent and said: "Wash your head very well. That is what is tormenting you." After washing my hair, I sensed that I was about going mad, and they freed me. Maybe they wanted to make me mad. They told me to go upstairs, may be, to know if I could know the way out. I almost missed the way to the staircase because it was as if someone's fingers were inside my brain.
By this time, I couldn't keep my mouth shut. I shouted: "Jesus! I rebuke this madness in your name because you were never mad, so, I cannot be mad." I said it loudly and they gave me a slap on my back calling me an idiot and warned me not to mention that name there. Upstairs, they kept another water in the bathroom of the room that I stayed before they moved me to the one was that looked like the master room.
There was a large cupboard where he kept his tools for operating on people. They then asked me to bathe with the water that also had some concoction. As soon as I got into that bathroom praying, the Holy Spirit ministered to me that I should throw away that water. I did so and prayed that the water should flow fast before they come.
This was about 6pm, I thought of what else I could do to convince them that I had had my bath. Then, another voice told me: "Ease yourself inside this container and use your urine to rob your body. In fact, bless that urine to be the blood of Jesus Christ and use it to rub your body and don't dry up so that it will look as if you took your bath (there was a towel in that bathroom). When they come, they will think you have had your bath." And because I had not eaten and drank, my urine was very little. But God gave me the grace.
Then I prayed into it and quickly rubbed it on my body and the remaining one, I sprinkled on his picture and everywhere. This time, I prayed and cried. So, before they came I had returned the bowl. The man looked at me, shook his head and left. After about an hour, he came back and said: "Who are you? Are you a witch? Why are you so difficult? And then he made a call. They have doctors. They had everybody.
By this hour, he told me bluntly that he had not killed me through poison because he was going to use my kidney to make more money. He would send my kidney for transplant while my body would be sold. He got angry and immediately called his doctor on the phone. He called one doctor James who now answered and he asked when he was going to come around because it appeared he was not on duty. Then, they fixed an appointment.
Miracle on Day four
On the fourth day, I didn't know what their shrine said because my prayer was that when they go to that shrine, they should see the blood of Jesus Christ. I was sure they couldn't consult because on this day, the man stormed that place in anger. He just opened the drawer and removed a shiny knife, showed it to me and said that anywhere the knife touched me, I would not live till the next day.
He was still talking when something strange happened. Suddenly, I saw the man fling off the knife, rolled on the ground, hit his head and ran out of the room. I wondered what must have happened to him. He came back later shouting, "Fire, fire", increased the air conditioner and jumped into the bathroom, and started bathing. After bathing, he came, stood under the air conditioner, calling those boys but they were scared to come.
He would call, "Omo Oba" and they would answer and he would say, "Where are you? You are just saying sir, sir, without coming." When they came, he told them to hold me but none of them came closer to me because at that stage, there was tension and they had not seen such a scenario before.
The man screamed and at a point, he held me by the neck demanding that I must quench the fire that was burning him. Then I told him: "Well, the only way that fire must be quenched is to allow me go. If you don't allow me go, the fire has not yet started." He said he would not give up, adding that he had never been defeated in his life. He mentioned his names (withheld) and titles to me and told me he would not allow me go because he would die if he did.
By this time, I began to praise God for visiting me and each time I shut my eyes, I saw angels surrounding me. At a point, the man knelt before me and asked: "Which God do you worship?" I told him that, "I worship Jehovah Almighty God, through His only begotten son that He gave for my sake, Jesus." After this man had confessed, he and his boys ran away.
But I could not leave because the room they kept me had a burglary proof designed in such a way that if it is hooked outside, you can't open it from within. I prayed, "God, I know that you have given me victory. But you need to do more. Someone needs to open this door for me to go out." At about 10pm, the young man whom Aisha claimed was her fiancé appeared and opened the door for me. I gathered later that when the man found out that everybody had run out with him, he contacted him because he brought me and Aisha. In deed, the man threatened to kill him if he failed to take me away. So, the young man had no choice but to come and open the door for me."
Surprisingly, he asked: "What did chief say you have done to him to deserve all these?" He threw his pyjamas to me and said: 'Wear it; let me take you to the balcony. When people are asleep, I will open the gate for you to go." At about 10pm, he left and never came back. At about 4am, as I was asleep, I heard a voice say, "Wake up. It is time", and I jumped up.
I thought of using the pyjamas as a rope to climb down but as I pulled my clothes, I turned to my left and saw a strong pipe. Then I crossed my leg to the wall and holding the pipe, I climbed down the building. The maiguard was still there. Sensing that the maiguard was asleep, I climbed a nearby tree and crossed the fence to the other side, even though the security iron cut me on my stomach. At about 5 am, the gates were opened and I saw cars passing.
I walked to the expressway and stopped a motorcycle but the man looked at me as if I was mad and didn't stop. I stopped three others but it was the fourth one that pitied me after hearing how I escaped death. He dropped me somewhere and gave me N50 with which I boarded a vehicle to Ojodu Berger. The conductor tried to stop me from boarding the bus, seeing the way I was, but I shoved him aside and with the backing of other passengers, I entered. When I eventually got home, my girlfriend rushed me to St Timothy's Hospital at Ojodu where I was treated. Even at that, I was ill for months.
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