How Prophets from the Chosen Church disgraced themselves after Failing to Raise a dead Man

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. The

deceased’s elder sister tendered what seemed like a

half-hearted apology on the family’s behalf.