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16/11/2021

HISTORY OF OWERRI AND ITS ORIGIN

Owerri was founded about the 14th century by father Ekwem Oha.
His mother's name was Arugo.
He fled from Umuori Village, Uratta in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State when his life was threatened by his younger brother Ndum. The threat to his life arose from the dispute over the sharing of the Funeral Cow slaughtered when their father Oha the aristocrat and embodiment of royalty died. The first son (Opara in Igbo) Ekwem was to provide the funeral cow as demanded by custom. He did not have the means to do so. He appealed to his younger brother Ndum popularly known as Ndumoha to buy the cow, which he did. Ndum asked for the head, heart and other parts of the cow that go to the first son in keeping with custom. His reason being that he Ndum, bought the funeral cow. Ekwem turned down his request and a quarrel ensued.

The elders (Oha Uratta) were invited to settle the dispute. They did so by allowing tradition to prevail. Ekwem was'entitled to the aforementioned parts of the cow being the first son. Ndum did not take kindly to this and so planned to kill Ekwem in order to have his way. The plot leaked and Ekwem fled with his family at the dead of the night to Egbu a neighboring town (Community) taking with them some stores and domestic assistants. History has it that his sister was married at Egbu. His sister fearing that Ndum may look for him asked him to continue his journey to an unknown and uninhabited land for safety and settle there permanently. They set out during the night with the aid of owa (native torch) and arrived at a hill top now known as Ugwu Ekwema and settled there. They heaved a sigh of relief saying OWERELA IHE MARAYA AKA meaning HE HAS TAKEN WHAT IS HIS RIGHT or what rightly belonged to him. He sounded the drum (as he was told by his sister) to indicate his location. His sister was happy to locate him and his family the following morning. She returned to Egbu thereafter.

The morning broke and they took their first meal roast old yam together in a typical communion fashion (not served) with thanks to Almighty and merciful Father our Lord God for their safety, the thick forest in the area being infested with dangerous animals such as lions, tigers and snakes like pythons, vipers and cobras.

THE NAME OWERRI (OWERE)

The advent of the British saw the anglicizing of Owere to Owerri but pronounced as though it was spelt Owere. All the neighboring towns (communities) of Owerri were founded and existed on planet earth centuries or decades before Owerri came into existence. It is a God given land (DESTINY LAND being the slogan for Owerri Municipal) and has remained protected with all the people therein by the same God Almighty.
The British found them very clean people. Recall the presence of Nwaorie and
Otamiri rivers flanking Owerri on the West and South respectively. Owerri people
were caring, friendly and accommodating hence *:he choice of Owerri by the
British Colonial Government as first, Divisional Headquarters later Provincial
Headquarters and today a state capital of Municipal status. It is sad to note what
the so-called modern technology in culverting had done to both Nwaorie and
Otamiri rivers at the creation of Imo state in 1976 when Owerri became the state
capital. The fine bridges that flew across the rivers that once flowed with beauty
were pulled down to give way to the culverts which were perhaps
unprofessionally constructed. The rivers are now almost stagnant and would
require millions of Naira to dredge. The influence of the two rivers on the culture
of Owerri people is now historical.

THE FESTIVAL OR FEAST OF OWERRI INDGENES - ORU OWERE

Oru Owere the annual festival or feast of Owerri indigenes cannot be written
without reference to the founding of Owerri. It has been mentioned earlier that
the first meal of the founding father of Owere and his family was roast old yam,
which they ate with oil bean salad at Ugwu Ekwema (Ekwema's hill) Our ancestral
home.
After breakfast on arriving and settling at Ugwu Ekwema, there was the need for
water for obvious reasons. They knew that the source of Otamiri was at Egbu but
were ignorant of the course of the river owing to t(ie thick rain forest of the area.
The communities or towns through which Otamirii flowed, were also known. It is
common knowledge that peculiar sounds or noise|s are characteristic of running
water from streams and rivers. That was Ekwem'ls experience that morning. He
ordered his men to use the direction of the sounds/noise to see if any could be
sighted. They obeyed his wish and by surprise stumbled on Otamiri river, close to
where Emmanuel College Owerri now stands. They ran back in excitement to
Ugwu Ewema and broke the news of the presence of what they described as
OGBU AMUMA - a pleasant early morning sunrise experience of flashing rays of
the sun on the waters of Otamiri river reminiscent:of the historical account of the
sighting of River Niger by the Scottish Explorer Mungo Park- GLITTERING IN THE
MORNING SUN.
OTAMIRI RIVER SIGHTED: Ekwem immediately commissioned his men to clear the route to the river -IKPU UZO. The route cleared after which he feasted them with corn porridge.

TWO REMARKEABLE EVENTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON OWERRI (OWERE) CULTURE

The roasting of old yams the first meal and the! corn meal entertainment developed into a cultural festival or feast ORU OWERE with which indigenes commemorate the founding of Owerri. These events tell the story of the founding of Owerri and the time or period of the year Owerri was founded viz the old yam and corn meal, which are commonly consumed at that time of the year, the rainy season. Worthy of note is the fact that the yam is old not new yam, as new yam had not yet been harvested. Therefore Oru Owere is not new yam festival.
ORU OWERE (ORU EZE)
Oru Owere is Oru Eze (the Eze's festival). The festival is marked by a period of the observance of peace, love, friendliness and togetherness, devoid of bitterness, quarrels, antagonism and physical confrontation, no weeping when death occurs during the period, no firing of cannon and a time to make up quarrels without third party intervention as stipulated by custom. However Oha Owere is the traditional institution responsible for its conduct and yearly observance. They determine the commencement of the period by a system handed down by our ancestors. The duration of the period is equally guided) by the same system. All the key events namely the beginning of the period, the roasting of the old yam, the corn porridge entertainment (MKPU KPU UZO) and the day marking the end of the period are Orie market days. The period begins in the month of June and lasts till mid August. Between the roasting of old yam (Oru Owere Proper) and the corn porridge meal is the GRAND FINALE characterized by a colourful procession of age grade formations in Owerri community through given routes in the Old City. The Civic procession assembles at Ugwu Ekwema Civic Center (the civic center of Owerri Community) from where it talks off and terminates at the end of the procession where invited guests are received and made to have a feel of Oru Owere with traditional dances displays and entertainment. The first item of entertainment after the breaking of kolanuts by Eze Ojwere is roast old yam. Ugwu Ekwema is our ancestral home which significance informed our choice of locating the Community Civic Center.
Perhaps the reader may wish to know when Owerri indigenes are free to eat the New Yam. The eating of the new yam by Owerp indigenes begin the day immediately after MKPU KPU OZU which is the day that marks the beginning of the new calendar year in Igbo culture.
Accordingly, it is pertinent to note that Owerri people the indigenes of the capital
of Imo state do not celebrate the New Yam.
When increase in population began, there was the need to expand to other fronts. The sons of Ekwem and their families moved away from the ancestral home at Ugwu Ekwema, to different directions within the confines of the two rivers close to each other with their families leading to the growth and development of the villages of Owerri which derived their names from the sons of Ekwem. The grave of Ekwem stands prominently on the grounds of Ugwu Ekwem Civic Center. Ikenegbu was the first son followed by Onyeche, Odu and their sister Oyima hence the villages namely;
Umuororonjo
Amawom Children of Ikenegbu Umuonyeche
Umuodu
Umuoyima
The villages were named after the sons and daughter of the founder. Information has it that about eight to ten villages emerged. Some were sacked and others migrated away to places far and near in Igbo Land, East and west of the Niger with Owerri featuring in the name of their new hometowns as Owere in Diaspora. In recent times some persons who are not indigenes of Owerri, the state capital and who have never written or published for public consumption any historical account of the founding or origin of their home town or communities have become Owereologists who give unprecedented calculated false and hopelessly distorted account of the origin of Owerri as though Owerri town or community which was in existence centuries before the British expedition in 1901 had no known origin. Her indigenes are not by accident of birth but divine providence. Owerri is not a geographical expression. It has a local setting given by the indigenes. It is not a coming together or movement of people from different places coming together to settle in a place or a place mixed with occupiers and intruders or invaders. It is founded through one person and his family. Prior to the early eighties of the last century, Owerri people the indigenes of capital of Imo state did not intermarry for the reason of one blood.
Owerri people are peace loving, very friendly, dq not discriminate against any ethnic or tribal group and treat you in a way more affectionate than they do to their brothers and sisters. They are not criminal or violent by nature. Those who come to Owerri to work or find a source of livelihood come to stay and not to return from whence they came for her peace and security.

KNOWING MORE ABOUT OWERRI

If you are in Imo State without knowing something about Owerri, the State Capital, your knowledge of the State is hopelessly incomplete.
The facts to note. Owerrl i.e. Owerrl Municipal the capital of Imo State
A. The advent of the British - 1901
B. The Monarchy - the last quarter of the 17th century about 1670-1680.
The Title of the Eze of Owerrl - OZURUIGBO (The King whose authority spans a
large area of Igboland).
The first king that is, the Eze-Eze Eke Onunwa
1. Eze Eke Onunwa
1690 - 1735
2. Eze Okorie Onunwa
1735 - 1788
3. Eze Iheancho Okorie Onunwa
1788 - 1845
4. Eze Njemanze Iheanacho Okorie Onunwa Ozurigbo the First
1845 - 1920
5. Eze Ihemeje Njemanze
1921 - 1931
6. Eze Onwuegbuchulam Njemanze
1931 - 1941
7. Eze Johnson Osuji Njemanze Ozuruigbo the 2nd
1941 - 1965
8. Eze Reverend Samuel Njemanze
1966 - 1970
9. Eze Reginald Anugwolu Njemanze Ozuruigbo the 3rd
1970 - 1976
10. Eze Alexuis Anumaku Njemanze Ozuruigbo the|4th
1976 - 1988
11. Eze Emmanuel Emenyonu Njemanze Ozuruigbo the 5th
is now on the throne as Ozuruigbo the 5th by title, the 8th Njemanze on the throne and 11th king of Owerrl, was crowned on the 11th of November 1989 (11/11/89) About 1840-1850, the kindred's of Eke Onunwa an;d Okorie Onunwa agreed to leave the crown permanently with the Njemanze family and became the kingmakers of Owerrl who decide the Njemanze that wears the crown. The oldest man from the lineage of Akalonu Okorie kindred crowns the Eze of Owerrl.
C. The British Occupation: The peace with friendliness of Owerrl people was encouraging.
The British settled and built;
a. Military Hospital later named African Hospital which thereafter was renamed General Hospital and today is the Federal Medical ; Centre Owerri. The Owerri General Hospital is relocated to New Owerrl in Owerri Municipal.
b. Government School in 1906 and added the secondary wing now
Government Secondary School Owerrl in 1935 and moved the Primary School to
Wetheral Road Owerrl as Owerri Township School in 1952.
Owerrl not only Divisional Headquarters but became the provincial headquarters
of the Old Owerrl Province was what is now Imo, Abia plus Afikpo up to Diobu in
the Rivers State. The need to have a seaport informed the building of Port
Harcourt from Owerrl the Provincial headquarters. When Port Harcourt was finally
built, Delta province was carved out of Owerrl Province with Port Harcourt as its
headquarters. Note that Port Harcourt was built from Owerri as Port Harcourt never existed before the advent of the British.
Physical Features:- Owerri is a land approached as you descend hills. There are two rivers:- Nworie on the West flank while Otamiri Is on the Southern flank. The two rivers influenced the culture of the people, Owerri people do not fish in Nworie River but do so in Otamiri River, they do not eat fish from Nworie River. The source of Nworie river had a deposit of Emerald a precious solid mineral but not in commercial quantity. There is also Lake Nwebere at Imo State University, Owerri.
Owerri people were subsistence farmers but have since abandoned farming when
it became a State capital in 1976 and the arable lands acquired by government for
other development projects.
Owerri is a well planned city and is listed by the Federal government as one of the planned cities in Nigeria. It was planned by Mr. Tetlow being the headquarters of Owerri province and later by a Swiss Consortium - Finger Hooth and Partners who designed New Owerri an idea conceived by the first military Governor the then Commander Ndubuisi Kanu now Rear Admiral Rtd. which is indeed an extension of Owerri Urban.
Education:- Embraced education ab initio with schools such as the Government School, Government Secondary School Owerri and schools both primary and secondary built by the missionaries - Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist etc. and later the Alvan Ikoku College of Education Owerri the Federal government Girls' College Owerri many private and other missiorjary secondary schools. Today there is Imo State University Owerri and the Federal Polytechnic and the Federal University of Technology Owerri in Owerri West Local Government Area.
All the missionaries have cathedrals e.g the Anglican, Catholic and Methodist and the Pentecostals while the Moslems have a Central Mosque, and the Cherubim and Seraphim all in Owerri.
The Monarchy Revisited: All Traditional Institutions in Owerri are hereditary and do not rotate. There are no ruling houses. The institution stands in one family. The hereditary system is not necessarily father to son but to a fit and proper son of the royal family.
The Njemanze / Owerri dynasty is a first class institution and has been involved in Nation Building and took part in the 1958 Constitutional Conference that ushered independence to Nigeria where Ozuruigbo of Owerri (my father) HRH Eze Johnson Osuji Njemanze represented the Old Owerri province of the former of Eastern Nigeria as part of the delegation led by late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as did the North and the West led by the late Ahmadu Bello and late Chief Obafemi Awolowo respectively.
Eze Njemanze Ihenacho of Owerri was the Vice chairman of the Council of the Traditional Rulers of the former Oil River Protectorate with Calabar as its headquarters. The Obong of Calabar was the Chairman of the Council Diplomatic Ties: Owerri monarchy had diplomatic ties with Arochukwu, Nkwere and the Benin Kingdom.
Oil Prospecting in Nigeria: This began in Owerri before the second world war. The Second World War broke out and it was suspended. The war ended and shell D'arcy returned to Owerri in the forties of the last century to continue the oil prospecting hence the shell camp in Owerri. Shell was in Owerri up to the early sixties before moving to Port Harcourt when their level of technology could not strike oil in Iho in Ikeduru LG.A of Imo state a few Kilometers away from Owerri. However, today there is a Chevron Rig in Owerri but not yet commissioned.
Culture: As subsistence farmers had implements for farming, practiced crop rotation, built barns for the storage of yams, built native wooden bridges (Igbo) across the rivers to link their farm land across the rivers Nworie and Otamiri, had their cultural dances, songs, moonlight songs, musical instruments, the wooden xylophone, opi or oja and odu as wind instruments, drums and percussions made of wood and animal skin, clay pot instruments etc. marriage rites, birth ceremonies and funeral ceremonies punishment for crimes depending on the scene of the act.
Mbari Culture had its root in Owerri: It is now a thing of the past as religion had dealt a big blow on the arts and crafts etc.
Generally religion/Christianity in the main relegated our culture.

Ugo Okeke-Realtor. First published by Ifeanyicy.com April 5, 2015

http://www.ifeanyicy.com/2017/05/history-of-owerri-and-

14/06/2021

To have people connected to this page.

15/04/2021

Congratulations Victory Yinka-Banjo. She Scores 9As In All WAEC Papers And A Stars In Cambridge IGCSE

Call her a star or a genius, you won’t be wrong. Victory Yinka-Banjo of Princeton College, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria, has added her name to the book of history by achieving A1 in all her WASSCE Papers and A stars in all her Cambridge IGCSE papers.

She was also declared the World Best Candidate in English as a Second Language (Speaking Component) by the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE).

Victory also made the list of top 5 best candidates locally and globally in other examinations such as UTME, IELTS, SAT

We at Celebration Galore celebrate this iconic genius of our time. May God bless your brain. Let us celebrate with her

22/12/2019

*HAJIA BINTA FARUK’S CONVERSION STORY* The Genesis of my conversion started in the University of Nsukka, I had a room mate called Chinwe, this lady loved praises, she will sing like this; *come and join me sing Halleluyah* I was always looking for a way to deal with her, one day while coming from the House fellowship, she kept her Bible on my bed and I asked who kept the Bible on my Bed, she said sorry, Binta, I carried the Bible and I tore the Bible, then I beat her. She took a piece of the Bible and cried to the heavens and called my name three times, Binta Jalingo, Binta Jalingo, Binta Jalingo, this Bible you tore, you will use it to preach the Gospel. Then I slapped her again, I said, it is your mother and your father that will preach the Gospel, she said, may the Lord have mercy on you, Binta. After seven years of the spoken words, I got converted on the 25th of September 1999. I was in the bedroom in Shehu's palace, because I got married to the younger brother of the Shehu of Bornu. I was born into the Muri kingdom, which is mostly Fulani. My mother, Hajia Aminat Jalingo, is of the Kutep tribe. Contrary to the Islamic tradition of multiple wives, my father married and maintained only my mother. I am the fifth of nine children. My father lived in many parts of Nigeria, serving in the Army till 1996. My mother also worked with the Nigerian Medical Corps until her retirement in 1992. I attended the Army Children School, Ikeja Cantonment, Lagos, completed my secondary education at Government Girls’ College Enugu. I studied Mass Communication at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). After my studies, in 1996, I worked as Programme Producer/Director with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Yola. I got married on April 27, 1997 and God blessed us with a set of twin boys – Hassan and Hussain. I never believed that I needed salvation for whatever reason, because every Moslem is convinced that Muhammad was the last Prophet in the long line of those that Allah had sent before. The Islamic Hadith (Mishkat) speaks of about 124,000 people who lived at various times in history. Twenty-eight of them are mentioned by name and most are found in the Bible. Since each of them was sent with a word from Allah to warn the respective people not to practice idolatry, to live righteously and to consider the coming Day of Judgement, it is perceived by Moslems that Isa (Jesus), the one to whom is given the greatest prominence in the Qur’an, was like Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses) and most others sent to the Jews. Therefore, when I heard Christians call Him, Lord, I became mad at them. As a young girl, in the Secondary School and even as an undergraduate, I would delightfully pack copies of the Holy Bible and take them to Kaduna for destruction, I thought the Bible was demonic. Many are still doing it today, I became the Vice President of the youth wing of the Jamaatu Nasril Islam. Very often, I saw Christians happy in every situation; yet, my success at school, which gave me the job at NTA, and brightened my chances of a good husband, could not bring me such peace and happiness. Several people had talked to me about Christianity, but to me then, Muhammad was the final seal of the prophets. This was my pride as a Fulani girl who saw herself in the greatest religion of all time. Qu’ran does not teach salvation in Jesus Christ, but it gives Him the greatest prominence. The wonderful statements in the Qu’ran are enough to compel one to search more about Him. The name Jesus (Isa) occurs about 25 times in the Qu’ran, and the title Messiah is used 93 times. I hated anything that had to do with Christianity. I was always happy seeing a Christian unhappy and enjoyed hearing that Christians were suffering, but on the 25th of September 1999, I was caught in a web. The day before, we attended the Friday prayers and all went well. At about 1:30am suddenly, an unusually bright light appeared in the bedroom with a mighty wind blowing and throwing all the pictures and other valuables to the ground. My husband and I became afraid. He got up from bed, brought out charms, known in Hausa as “Hayaki”. He placed it on the ground, got hot charcoal and placed the charm on it, but the mighty wind threw it all down. Before we could make out anything, a voice thundered, saying: “You have been baptized by the Holy Spirit. Go and be “Tabitha” unto my people”. I asked my husband if he could understand what the voice was saying, but he said that he did not hear any voice. He later concluded that I belonged to a secret cult, which accounted for my hearing voice that he could not hear. He thought that I wanted to sacrifice him or our set of twins. He got angry, took our twins to the guestroom and abandoned me in the bedroom. I was very worried and couldn’t sleep. In the morning, again, I heard the voice saying: “Tell your husband that you have accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour”. I said “No, I can’t. What has a Fulani got to do with Jesus Christ”, I thought that demons were after me. The thing happened again on 28th and 29th, and each time, there was an invitation to “come and serve”. So I told my husband that I would go to Church the following Sunday. “Not in this house”, he retorted, He might have received my word with shock, yet joy and peace flooded my heart at that time. I knew what I was passing through and it would be disastrous for me not to do what God would want me to do for Him. On Saturday, after speaking to him about it, I went ahead and bought for myself the first Bible I ever bought or read in my life, and hid it under my box. The next day, Sunday, I picked up my Bible, got into my car and drove to the nearby Baptist Church. After the service, I came back and met my husband at home. I greeted him but he asked me where I was coming from; I wanted to lie, but heard a voice saying ‘what were you taught in the church today?’ It was “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” So, I told him that I was coming from the Church. He got up in anger, gave me a beating, snatched the Bible from me and wanted to tear it but I told him of the danger of tearing the Bible, so he stopped. He was shocked because he knew that it was my role in the past. So he dropped the Bible in anger and left till the evening. I brought out food for him as usual, but he kicked the food away and warned his sister that no one should eat the food I cooked in the house again for he had declared me an infidel and as a result, I would have nothing to do with the family, even with my own kids. The next day, he went to fetch my father from Makurdi. As I welcomed my father, he too, started beating me with his military belt and boots, until I was unconscious and was taken to the hospital where I stayed for three days. Wonderfully, on the third day, at about 2 am, the Lord appeared to me. I noticed a touch on my feet and I woke up trying to see who it was that touched me, but the face was shinning like the sun in such a way that I could not see his face. I only looked at Him from His feet to the chest. I was afraid and screamed for help. One of the nurses came, prayed with me and asked me not to be afraid again. As I said amen to her prayers, I began to speak in tongues for about three hours. I was saying things they could not understand. Some of them thought I was mad but a psychiatric doctor who was called in, confirmed that I was normal. The figure appeared again. This time He said unto me, “Be bold, for this is temporary: you will overcome the temptation”. The fourth day, I was discharged from the hospital. On getting home, my husband gave me a divorce letter, which I collected with joy and told him. ‘I am married to Jesus.’ After that, I packed my things, including my two cars, kept them in someone’s house and travelled to Lagos. My husband took my twins to Saudi Arabia. Not done yet, my father had the man that I had kept my belongings in his house arrested on the grounds that he had abducted me from my husband’s house. On hearing that, I returned to Jalingo and arranged his release. Then, my father collected my cars and other belongings claiming that he bought them for me as wedding presents. In trying to make me renounce my faith in Christ, the Management of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Yola, had my appointment terminated, under pressure from my husband. My father and some Islamic fanatics took me to one Alhaji’s house in Jalingo and there chained my feet and my hands. After seven days, I was released, with a threat of death, if I went to Church again. My mother arranged for my uncle, her elder brother to reconcile my father and me. As we went talking, my father got angry, picked up his gun and shot at me. As God would have it, the little movement I made at the sight of a gun overturned the seat where I was sitting and I was pushed to the ground. The gun sounded but the bullets did not enter me but passed through the chair and to the wall. Everybody was alarmed, my mother started weeping that he had killed her only daughter. Later, my mother advised me to go and stay with her elder brother. Being a moslem, he too was unhappy with me and made life difficult. Once, he threatened to kill me with a cutlass so I left his house for Lagos and later, Maiduguri. I was denied my rights in the family; my father had me thrown into prison on false allegation. He had initially gone to a Sharia court but I protested against that since I am now a Christian. So, he took me to a Magistrate court at Hadeja. The Magistrate ordered that I be remanded in prison for calling my father, my neighbour. I was in detention for six months without trial and bail until some Christians on prison visitation, learnt that I was there for becoming a Christian. The matter was reported to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Chairman who wrote a petition that led to my proper trial. The Magistrate sentenced me to two years imprisonment plus a fine of five thousand Naira. One Christian Women Fellowship in the area paid the fine while I was taken to prison. That was September 5, 2000. Some inmates asked me to appeal but I told them, confidently, that the Lord Jesus would do a great Appeal for me. At midnight, I prayed: ‘Lord, I want you to deliver me from this prison before December. If you don’t, the people will ask me, where is your God?’ I reminded him of how He answered Hezekiah. On October 2, 2000, less than a month after my imprisonment, a letter came from Abuja ordering my release and I was set free. My prison experiences brought me closer to God that I developed more faith in God’s ability to see me through. After two months, I decided to go and share the Lord Jesus with my grandparents. The moslem youths were looking for me everywhere, to kill me. They hid me until I couldn’t be hidden. I fled to the bush for four days. On the fourth night, I woke up with a snake beside me. That day, I told God that I wanted to go back to Islam. I couldn’t continue like that in the bush but He quickly reprimanded me. He asked “Upon all the sufferings you’ve been through, you still want to go back? If I didn’t shut the mouth of the snake, wouldn’t it bite you while you slept? I repented and told him that I was sorry; I will never go back to Egypt”. I found out that God actually took me to prison to teach me some things. One was to read the Bible and two, because of a female Christian warder who left and married a Moslem and God shut her womb. In the prison, God told me in a dream that she was going to have a baby. When I told her, she became angry, tortured me, called me names, but I kept praying for her, that the name of the Lord be glorified since I had said the Lord told me. Later, she actually had the baby, and that converted her and her husband. Eight moslems in the prison gave their lives to Christ. They were baptized in the Holy Ghost before I left. Seeing what the Lord used me to do in the prison, I knew that I would do better outside. One day, some moslem youths came and kidnapped me. They laid me on the ground, raised their cutlasses to kill me but their hands remained hanging in the air. That happened to three of them and the others fled. They were later taken to the police who wanted them killed but I told them it was the Lord’s battle not theirs. I told them that I had forgiven them. As I was leaving, they asked for their hands to be restored. I said “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, let your hands come down” and their cutlasses dropped. Today, they are Christians and live with me. On another occasion, another group of moslem youths kidnapped me. They were taking me to Sokoto. On the way, scorpions emerged and started to sting them. They dropped me, begged me and even gave me money to take me back home. Yet on another occasion, they kidnapped me and wanted to inject me with poisonous material but they couldn’t find those materials and had to let me go. The Bible says we must start from our Jerusalem. Moslems and Fulanis are my Jerusalem. Many of them live in ignorance, not having heard of Jesus till today. And if I am one of the fortunate ones that God brought out, I need to go out and say something to them. That is why I say I would fight the cause with my blood. I am not limiting myself to Nigeria; I intend to go to the Middle East, planting a church in Saudi Arabia where my children are. I tell God that my children in Saudi Arabia are Ambassadors of Christ and they must become Pastors in Saudi Arabia. So, any time I hear a moslem is converted somewhere and is persecuted, I take them in. I have forty-nine under my roof right now. They call me “mama”. The oldest is eighty-nine years. She became a Christian and her children threw her from upstairs to die, but God preserved her. A Pastor found her and brought her to the centre. Some come with their ears cut off, others are stripped naked etc. I pray for people to join me in this crusade. Thank God. He is raising men among the coverts in the centre and in my family. My immediate elder brother who is a soldier has become a Christian. My mother became a Christian since 2002. My elder brothers who wanted me dead or back to Islam are now Christians. One of them, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Maiduguri had to relocate to Imo State because of persecution. I testify that Jesus is Lord. Some people came to attack us. The first time they came, they saw a pool of blood: the house became a pool of blood. The second time they came, the house became plain land. The third time, they saw ocean. The last time, the house became a pillar of fire. Sometime later, something happened that led to their arrest and the Commissioner of Police sent for me. On getting there, the police brought the criminals who said that I didn’t know them but they knew me. They were all Moslems, some of them from Republic of Niger. They then narrated how they had to attack me, but I was delivered by the Lord. That day, the Commissioner of Police lined up his men in the office and asked me to pray for them. Instead of leaving me alone, my former husband began to persecute me. While leading some assassins to my place to kill me, the vehicle in which they were travelling was involved in an accident. He, alone died in the hospital after confessing that he wanted me dead for I was bringing shame to his name. It pains me because both of us were in the same room the day I heard the voice. After that I prevented him from destroying a copy of the Bible, something I used to enjoy doing. He knew how violent I was, destroying Christendom. He should have learnt a lesson from my conversion and repented. That is how many others die without repentance even though they are exposed to the gospel. The good Lord who is always my Shield and Protector will always save and hide me in His shadow. My life is in God’s hand.” Binta Faruk Jalingo was a staff of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Yola. She runs Tabitha Evangelistic Ministry, a home for the persecuted (Converted Muslims) in Miango, Jos Plateau State, Nigeria. I don't know how your feeling will be but as for me, the name Jesus is the most powerful, if you believe the same, then share this with others.