Posted by By Jossy Idam on
Most times, pain is deep and personal. For years, a young woman Ngozi kept hers under wrap. She buried it in a carefree lifestyle in the red light spots of Spain.
• 'I made my husband mad for 14 years'
• 'I killed my sister, blinded my mum'
Most times, pain is deep and personal. For years, a young woman Ngozi kept hers under wrap. She buried it in a carefree lifestyle in the red light spots of Spain.
But after a long while, the problem and pain began to eat and tug at her heart. She needed to find a solution to a frightening nightmare and constant pain in the pit of her stomach.
Restless and sleepless
Whenever she tried to rest or sleep, masquerades chased her around with whips. Nearly driven mad by the nightmare and persistent pain, she flew into the country and headed to Synagogue, The Church of All Nations in Ikotun, Lagos. She only went for prayers and deliverance from the nightmare and pain.
Ambling casually through the Church crowd, the General Overseer of the Church, Prophet T.B Joshua, stopped in front of her and pointedly said: 'You can run but can't hide. You can lie to ordinary mortals but not the Holy Spirit. You are a murderer and a prostitute. That's the cause of your problem, the man of God said, tapping her shoulder with his right hand.
Singing like canary
In response, Ngozi fell to the ground and rolled over as though struck by a powerful blow or thunder. A Church Warden and a pastor attended to her. When she fully recovered, she got up and began to confess: 'It is me sir. My mother is a witch. She caused my problem. My sister is also a witch. So, we took her (sister) into the bush and killed her. I gave people money to kill my mother but they failed. I came down from Spain and tried to kill her by myself. I beat her and beat her. I broke a bottle and stabbed her in the eye. She still didn't die. She is blind in that eye.
After an earful, Pastor Joshua cut her short and declared loud and clear: 'Your sister is innocent and your mother is not a witch. Go and bring her from your village. Bring her here and beg her to forgive you. If you don't, the curse she has put on you will pass from one generation to another in your family.
On bended knees
Bothered by the consequence, Ngozi dashed off to her village in Anambra State. She went on bended knees and convinced her mother to come with her to the Synagogue. Here was the woman she had blanked out for years. Ever a loving and forgiving mother, she agreed to go with her wicked daughter.
Ngozi's father, Joseph, willingly agreed to come along. They arrived the Synagogue on Saturday night, August 9, 2008. The following day, Sunday, before a large congregation, Ngozi went on bended knees again, weeping and remorsefully begged her mother for forgiveness. Her father, Pa Joseph also went on his knees before his wife who had now lost her right eye. He owned up for being the mastermind of his children's mistrust and hatred of their mother.
It is all my fault. I caused every thing. When my children - Ngozi in Spain, one boy in Belgium, another in America - complained, saying things were tough for them, I consulted a juju man who told me my wife and one of my daughters were behind it. The man said they were witches. I called Ngozi and others and told them. That is how it started', he confessed.
Re-united
After the confessions, Pa Joseph said: 'I'm truly sorry and regret all that happened. Husband, wife and daughter hugged and forgave one another. Members of the congregation wept and rejoiced with them. Prophet Joshua also begged Mama for forgiveness. He wondered what could take away the pain, stigma and rejection she suffered over the years. After hugging her, he gave her N200,000 cash gift.
Chain reaction
The confession and re-union triggered off a chain reaction in the Church. Prophet Joshua sermonized on it, and urged members of the Church who at one time or another labeled their relations witch or wizard to come out, confess it, ask for forgiveness and be prayed for. A large number surged forward.
A middle-aged woman, Mrs. Theresa Dickson Oke, came out and told the Church how she made her husband roam the streets and market places for 14 years.
Touched by the tale, Prophet Joshua prayed for her and ordered her to go and bring her mad husband to the church. According to her, a family quarrel made her to contact a juju man who gave her a charm and told her to make a wish. At the height of their quarrel, she wished and willed her husband to go mad.
Good life
In the beginning, her husband, Dickson Oke was an amiable young man working with a construction giant, Strabag at Ibadan. He married Theresa in his younger days and when he had nothing to his name. Then, he was a loving husband and father. He was a father of two when he went to Yugoslavia for studies.
When he returned, they had two more children. Things began looking up for them and he got promoted to commercial manager. He had a company house, cook, cleaner, gardener, car and driver. 'We were comfortable and happy where we were living at Ibadan but his attitude towards me suddenly changed', Theresa revealed.
Another woman
The relationship between Theresa and Dickson nose-dived when another woman moved in. Dickson, according to her, didn't see anything good in her anymore. 'We began quarreling frequently. He used to beat me a lot, and wouldn't even let me come near his bed', she recalled.
Sunday Sun learnt that the other woman in Dickson's life was a product of an office romance with a typist who worked under him. Theresa was further miffed when he took a particular liking to the woman, sent her to school and bought her a car.
Revenge
In comparison, hell had no fury like her anger. Out of righteous indignation and desperation, Theresa went to a local medicine man who helped her to strike Dickson mad. The man left his cosy job and home and took to the streets like the biblical king Nebuchadnezzar. Sunday Sun gathered that he began picking pieces of papers and rummaging in garbage heaps. He later found his way to his village - Uzebu Okaigben Owohimi in Edo State. In subsequent years, he lived under a tree and became a common face in market places and surrounding bush there. Looking back now, Theresa said, 'I didnít know he would actually go mad. I only wanted him to love me more and treat me well.'
Undoing the spell
Told she would go mad as well if she looked the man in the face, Theresa took her children and fled to Lagos, not able to go home again. When Prophet Joshua ordered her to go and bring her husband to Synagogue, she almost went mad with anxiety: would she not go mad on seeing him as the medicine man said? How would a violent mad man react? How would she deal with the situation emotionally? And what about the children? More questions buzzed in her head than answers.
Resolute on the matter, Prophet Joshua raised a five-man team to accompany Theresa. When they got to the village, and after a long search in market places and bushes, they found him. Unkempt, dirty, wearing an old torn T-shirt, raggedy brown trousers, mismatched rubber slippers, wielding a machete and looking dangerous, Dickson declined to follow the team. But after a lot of cajoling, he let go of his machete, gathered his belongings - dirty castoff clothes - in a Ghana Must Go bag and entered a Danfo bus that conveyed the team to Lagos.
Deliverance, re-union
As though hypnotized, Sunday Sun learnt that Dickson remained calm on the way. On arrival in Lagos, Dickson's first daughter, Amy, 27, brought her siblings: Roseline, 25, Billy 22 and Gloria, 20, and two grand children to welcome their father and grand father. Seeing their father in that pitiable condition, the children threw themselves at him and wept uncontrollably. On Saturday morning, August 16, 2008, Prophet Joshua laid hand on him and prayed.
Shortly after, and as the Church's video clip of the episode reveals, Dickson, for the first time in 14 years, demanded to be allowed to take a bath, change his clothes, brush his teeth, shave and clean up. But he was told to wait.
The following day, Sunday, August 17, 2008, he was presented to the church's congregation. Half way through the service, Dickson was taken to the church hostel and given a thorough bath and rub-down. About an hour later, he came back to the church a different man.
New life
He was now dressed in cream-coloured suit, clean shirt, tie and black shoes. Grinning ear to ear like a movie star and politician, Dickson openly re-united with Theresa and their children. People rushed out to hug and kiss him. Even Prophet Joshua did the same. The man later spoke and thanked Prophet Joshua for giving him a new life. It was broadcast live on Emmanuel TV. Those who know Dickson, Sunday Sun learnt, kept phoning in. Some said they thought he had long died and been buried.