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Leader of one of the fastest growing Christian ministries, Zion Prayer Movement Outreach, Evangelist Ebuka Obi, has revealed how God saved him from gunmen’s attack planned by occultists.
He said that owing to the fact that he make people surrender their charms as well as quit life of voodoo and witchcraft, occultists sent gunmen to attack him, but the plot failed as one of the attackers was apprehended and two others escaped.
Evangelist Obi revealed that before he was born, his mother, who prayed for a son, was told in a trance that she would have twins.
He said that his mother was told that she would have twins and that the second of the twins would serve God.
The Zion Ministry leader said that from age eight, he became an instrument in God’s hands, solving people’s spiritual problems.
He revealed how a Catholic priest told his father to leave him to fulfill his destiny and also gave him three cardinal principles to follow in order to be a powerful pastor.
In this interview with ONUOHA UKEH and HENRY UMAHI, Evangelist Obi told the story of his life.
Evangelist, congratulations on your birthday. We noticed that not much noise was made about your birthday as we have seen of other pastors. Is this by accident or design?
I just wanted it to be so. I didn’t want to really invite a lot of people. Many people are angry, saying I didn’t tell them about it. The truth is that I wanted this one to be calmly done. But of course, that day we saw millions of people coming down from different parts of the world. Last year, there were so many things done, but this year I decided to have something small.
Before now, Zion Ministry was relatively unknown, but then suddenly there was an explosion in social media and mainstream media. What happened?
You know, the Bible says that there is time for everything. In Ecclesiastes 1.11, the Bible says, he beautified all things in its time. So, I believe this is time for our manifestation. The scripture said in Romans 8, 18 and 19, that the whole creation are waiting to see the manifestation of the sons and daughters of God.
Social media also helped. We have been here doing well, by God’s grace. God has been bringing people in thousands, even before social media. I believe it’s time of God for more people to get to know what is happening here. It’s just the time.
As I said, he beautified all things in his time. Even me, I’m surprised how suddenly we have branches all over the world. If you ask me to explain, I may not be able to.
Could you tell us how your journey into evangelism started?
That is a long story. It started when I was eight years old. My mother told my twin brother and I that when she got married, she was barren for 11 years. She kept praying to God asking for the fruit of the womb. After 11 years of barrenness, she started having female children. First one was a female. Second one was a female. The third one was a female. I’m from a royal family. If you don’t have a male child, you are like an outcast. My mum kept crying to God, promising that if God gave her a male child, she would dedicate him to God. Eventually, she became pregnant and in a trance someone told her that she would have two babies eventhough she asked for one. She was told that the second twin should be named Chukwuebuka and would serve God all his life. So, I was kind of initiated from the womb, like the way Samuel was initiated through the mother, Hannah. I was born, or we were born. When I was eight years old, I noticed that people came to me for spiritual matters. Then, if I looked at someone I was able to tell the person what will happen to him the next day. And it was unmistakable. I remember I was eight years, and many pregnant mothers came every day. They would ask me to tell them the sex of babies they were going to deliver. I would tell them and it would come to pass. It was unmistakable.
My father was teaching in a secondary school and my mother was a primary school teacher. My father didn’t really agree with what was happening around me. He was not confortable seeing a lot of people coming to our compound trying to see a boy of eight years. So, he would flog me over this.
Sometimes when I went to church, I would not return. My parents would be looking for me and they will find me in the chapel. When I became 11 years old, it became such that even my teachers came to me because I would not just say what would happen the next day, but also coming deaths. I remember when my mother took me to someone, who had been told by the doctor that he would die. I was 10 years old then, but when I looked at the person, I told my mother that the man would not die. The person recovered. So, I became famous even in the village. Among my schoolmates, I was popular because people came from other towns to look for me. My father continued to flog me, until one reverend father came to our parish, Rev Fr. Luke Odinkemmelu. Then I was 12 years old. He called my father and my mother and advised that they should stop flogging or worrying about me. He said that the grace of God was upon me and that I would serve God. He told my parents that God would use me mightily. It was the intervention of the reverend father, Luke Odinkemmelu, that made my father to slow down in flogging me. But I cannot forget that the reverend father warned me. He told me not to have sex until I marry. Yes, he also said that for me to maintain God’s grace I must not sleep with a woman until I get married. I was just 12 years old then. The reverend father also said that I should not open a church. He said he saw where I was talking to millions of people, but that I should not leave the Catholic Church where I was born. I didn’t understand what he meant by don’t open a church, don’t have sex until you marry. He also said I should not be money-minded. The reverend father said that if I kept these three things, I would go far. I was barely 12 years old when he said these to me. That time, he always went everywhere with me. He was a spiritual priest. If he was going to neutralise a deity or charm, he went with me because I could tell what would happen.Those instructions given to me by the reverend father have kept me till today. I had promised God that I would not have sex until I marry. I’ve not had sex before. Zion ministry is not a church. It is a prayer ground. Because of those instructions given to me, I don’t baptise. I don’t wed people. People come here, we pray together, and they go. Muslims come here, Christians, Hindus, everybody comes. Here is a prayer ground. I still maintain my Catholic faith. Then, being money-minded, I do not charge anybody. I’ve never asked anybody to give me tithes. I’ve never asked anybody to bring bazaar to me. I’ve never asked anybody before to touch the shoe of man of God with N10 million or whatever. I totally struggle to keep those three promises. People who bring money here do so willingly. Nobody forced them, nobody taxed them. God has been seeing me through till today. It’s a gift I was born with. I’ve not gone to any seminary school before. I’ve not gone to any Bible school before. But when people see me studying, preaching, praying, they will think one big man of God had lectured me.
How did you come to Lagos and what has been the experiences?
I came to Lagos to work, but eventually the person I was working with had some issues with me. I remember the day one man came to buy goods. As I was attending to him, I saw that he had a wound, a smelly wound that refused to heal for years. I placed hand on the wound, and the next day, the wound dried. The news spread. The next day, more than 50 people swooped on our office, wanting to see me. My boss said that that was not why I was there. When I went to Catholic Church, I didn’t have a rest because of demand from people. Even during Mass, people would swarm over me, wanting me to touch them, pray for them. I kept running from one Catholic Church to another on Sunday. In my office at Idumota, people came to me, not to buy goods, but for me to pray for them. So, my life became somehow, I was so miserable that I didn’t have a hiding place. In my house, my landlady gave me a quit notice, because sometimes they brought people suffering epilepsy in the night, knocking on the gate. So, my landlady was uncomfortable and gave me a quit notice. Somebody later told me that somewhere in Amuwo Odofin was a place some pastors went to pray. They called it “desert.” That place is now called Prayer Estate. Some pastors went there to have a quiet time with God. I started going to that place. Everywhere was bushy. I started going there to pray. People noticed that I went there on Sundays and started coming there to look for me. That was how Zion Ministry started. I never planned to have a ministry. I never planned to have a prayer group called Zion Ministry. People started coming to that “desert” to look for me. In hundreds, they were coming. At a time, Okada started coming in there. Keke Napep started bringing people inside that place. The owners of the land didn’t like the fact that a lot of people were coming to look for me and were bent of stopping me. They banned me from going into the place. They banned me, but left some other pastors that had small groups. People didn’t like this development. They confessed that they enjoyed my prayers. Some people, from nowhere contributed money, and I supported them, to buy the first four plots of land Zion Ministry is located now. That was how we came here. It was when we came here that we started looking for a name to call the place. It was never my plan to have a ministry. The journey just started like that. And it has not been easy. I have suffered attacks from different angles. I have experienced attack from east, west, north, and south. Some time ago, the occult people launched an attack because I make people surrender their charms. There were three gunmen who came in a bid to attack me. One of them was arrested and the two others fled.
You said something about tithe. There has been a controversy, with some pastors saying it is mandatory to pay tithe, and others saying no. What is your take?
There is nothing wrong with tithe. It’s one of the scriptural principles. I have never preached about it here for people to be giving me tithe. There are other ministries that collect tithe. Whether it’s a church or a house of God, tithe is to support the work, to help the people. I’ve never for one day collected or even asked people to bring tith here. I believe that people should do what they want to do from their hearts. Tithe is a scriptural principle, but it’s not mandatory. It’s not a sin if you don’t pay tithe. The way we are hearing it today on social media, some people saying if you don’t pay tithe, no heaven for you. They said that if you don’t pay tithe, God will tighten your hand and that if you don’t pay tithe, God will punish you. I don’t know about that. What I know is that in Malachi 3.10, the Bible just made it simple. Bring your tithe in my house and I will open doors and I will drive away cankerworm and locusts. It’s one of the scriptural principles. But it’s not force, that when you don’t pay, you have offended God. You know that here pastors magnify and amplify it so much. That is what is bringing a lot of controversy. But to me, if some people are willing to pay their tithe, they should pay. If some people are not willing to pay, it’s not a sin to them. What I believe in finance in the ministry is let people do what they want to do. I’ve never asked people to bring me first fruit before or give me tithes. Some people say, that Jesus did not pay tithe, he didn’t collect tithe. They say that tithe is Old Testament or something. But the same people are saying “no weapon fashioned against me shall prosper,” which is Old Testament. So, if you want to delete it, that means you have to delete and tear the Old Testament out of the Bible. Jesus did not come to condemn the Old Testament. The Bible says he has come to make it reality.
What is your relationship with the Catholic Church? You said that a reverend father told you not to abandon the Catholic Church. What’s your relationship with the church, your mother church?
I was baptised in the Catholic Church, received Holy Communion in Catholic Church and I was confirmed by the late Bishop Ochiagha of Orlu Diocese. You can imagine that some reverend fathers who have ministries like this are being kicked, even by their fellow priests, not to talk of when a layman is doing it. So, many priests love me; many bishops love me, but some are still doubting, asking “what is he doing? Why would he possess such power? He’s not a Catholic priest. Why would he possess that power? Why would he be pulling crowd?” It’s normal, I don’t blame them. Some of the saints passed through it. Some past saints suffered it because of the miracles they did. But later, they realised that the saints were not doing the wrong thing, but doing the right thing. I don’t blame some of the priests and bishops who don’t agree with me. Everybody will not agree with what you are doing. Even Jesus Christ was not accepted by everybody; they even said he worked miracles with power not of God. Some priests call me from outside the country, saying we are making the church proud. They said they have never seen any ministry by a lay person as large as ours in the history of the world. People say that there is nobody who had this kind of ministry in the Catholic Church who has never departed or started wedding people. They confess that they have never seen us wedding anybody or baptising anybody. They know what is happening here. I love those who misunderstand me. I don’t dispair over it. When Fr. Stephen Njoku started, so many people were against him. But today, he is the talk of the town everywhere. Those powerful priests in the ministry are even tormented, kicked against by some of their fellow priests. Those working against priests may not know what they are doing. The Bible says, a time will come when those who will hate you, those that will kill you will think they are doing the right thing. I love the Catholuc Church and I’m going nowhere. I will die here. If they blow me, I will stay in the church. One thing I love in the Catholic Church is that nobody can ban you not to be a Catholic. I have got to the level that I can never be anything except Catholic because I have already been confirmed. The only thing you can do to make me not to be a Catholic is to wake up the late Bishop Ochiagha from the grave and get him to take away the oil of confirmation from my head. So far that can’t happen, I must remain a Catholic.
We have noted what you said about remaining in the Catholic Church. Does that explain why you prefer the title evangelist instead of pastor or bishop or archbishop as we see in other places?
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I just want to serve God humbly, gently. Even the evangelist, I’m not the one who called myself that. People started writing it. When I preached a good message, they say this guy is an evangelist. I’ve never for one day declared myself an evangelist, pastor, prophet. I see myself as Brother Ebuka. People are the one adding evangelist to my name.
The life of a man of God is not easy. Fasting, prayers, counseling, and temptation all the time. It is worse that you are not married. How do you cope?
When it comes to temptation by women, it’s a normal thing. I’m not so ugly that women will not come looking for me. Women go to married men of God, not to talk of when they know I’m not married. But one of the things that is keeping me is setting the boundary. Remove your sandal, for where you are standing is a holy ground. There is a part of me you cannot cross because I love anointing more than sex.
I know the vow I took. I enjoy the anointing. I enjoy governors calling me on the phone, seeking advice from me, senators calling me, seeking advice from me. I enjoy it more than five or 10 minutes sex. There are cameras here in my office. Some girls used to come here and open their breasts. You’ll be seeing these breasts open. I would tell them that the camera person is downstairs watching everything happening in this office. In this office, there are cameras there. My camera team is watching what is happening in this office. I made it so to safeguard myself. I don’t go out easily. My movement is from this office to Zion Ground. Sometimes I stay six months and not go out, except I have a crusade abroad or other countries. I don’t keep relationships. They have tried to track me in so many ways. You can’t get me. Before you get me on phone, it may take six months or one year. I have phones that ring every second. But before you get to speak with me, it may take time. My personal life is very private. I don’t really give people access to me, ladies and men, except on consultation in the office. And I refuse to be staying in my house. Most of my stay is on Zion Ground because I’m not married. So, what am I going home to do? I sleep on the altar. I wake up on the altar. I’m dedicated to what I’m doing. I’ve studied the scripture. I understand the mistake of other prophets. And I learn from them. Somebody like David, somebody like Samson, I know their mistakes. Women are a powerful thing that can pull any man down. What God put in them is highly irresistible. They are part of us. And I cannot avoid them because so many of them work with me closely. But I set boundary, powerful boundary. Lot was not in Sodom but before you know it, he was already inside Sodom. Knowing that it is one of the three vows warnings – don’t have sex until you are married – I don’t even think about it. It’s affecting me to decide who to marry because I don’t know who is who. I am praying about who to marry. I am praying hard.
You have a crowded schedule. How do you unwind? How do you relax?
That is a very big problem to me. My mother has cried; my father has cried, everybody. That I have never collapsed is just the grace of God. I don’t know the last time I have closed my eyes and slept for like two hours. I can’t remember the year. Sometimes, I will be having meetings untill 6:00a.m. Where I sleep is my altar and I sleep on the tiles. To maintain grace is not easy. It takes a sacrifice to get to the top, but it takes a greater sacrifice to remain on the top. What I do is not easy in order to maintain people coming here all over the world, including foreigners. The hotels are filled up with foreigners. So, I need to do a lot of things, but it’s not healthy for me. I don’t even know why I have not been admitted in the hospital. For years now, I have never taken anagelsic tablet. I don’t sleep long. I don’t rest. That is just the honest truth. I don’t even know why I am still alive today. I am very busy. No human being will be having high engagement without time of rest and still be strong. It’s my fault. They said I should also set a boundary the way I have set a boundary with women. I need to plan my life so that I can also have a time of rest, which is important.
Was the movement of the Zion Ministry headquarters to Ngor Okpala a spiritual direction or just chosen because of the location?
So many things are involved. One is that this place does not contain us. Last two years, I think the governor of Lagos was coming to my birthday and there was so much traffic; I think he turned back. The road is always blocked. People would be standing. For us to keep buying and buying land here is not easy. Because of the presence of Zion Ministry here, the land is so expensive. So, why can’t we go to a place where we can buy a lot of land cheaper? Secondly, I am the type that have Igbo interests at heart. I don’t know how this will sound, but I am an adult. I have Igbo interests at heart. I have come to realise that Igbo are the only people in this earth that develop other regions but their own region is undeveloped. If you listened to my speech, I made it so clear in Ngor Okpala. Go to America, you will see Igbo and their industrialisation. Go to Abuja, you will see them. The best estates and houses in Abuja are owned by Igbo people. Go to Cameroon, go to Ghana. We are the only people who develop other regions but our own region is undeveloped. Somebody has to make a move. But this place does not contain us during weekly activities, not in major programmes. So, based on that we considered Ngor Okpala. If you folllowed the programme we did there, we rented two and half million chairs and the majority still stood. Where can we host that crowd here? No stadium can contain the people that were at Ngor Okpala. It was the biggest crowd so far in the South East. No gathering has been more than that. So, knowing that we don’t have much space here to host us, we have to go there. Also, we want to help the people there because a lot people are dying of hunger there. No infrastructure, no company. That was why I dropped Olive Oil and we prayed: anything holding the Igbo must be destroyed. I don’t think we are acting with our senses. We develop everywhere, but our land is not developed. We are comfortable in Ghana, Congo, Kano and elsewhere answering Eze Ndigbo, but the village of that person has no light. If it’s caused by juju, it must spoil by fire, by force.
What is the reason behind Seraphic Foundation?
When I was praying in 2009, the Lord told me that He will bless me, but I will be a blessing to people. When we came back to Lagos, we formed what we called welfare team. From welfare, I was praying in Sagamu and the Lord said I should name my foundation Seraphic. Today, we have Seraphic Water and Seraphic Hospital etc. If you go to Anambra, I am building a psychiatric hospital, Old People’s Home and a less privileged home. I am using 30 plots of land to build them. It is a massive project going on in Aguleri in Anambra State. It will be free of charge. It is my intention not to see any mad person on the street anymore. It is only in Igboland that you can be seeing mad people in every market. When I finish, we will have a team that will be going everywhere picking them. We are already doing that in Lagos and we will extend it to other parts of Nigeria. But charity begins at home. Everything will be free for the inmates. I told God that everything He has given me I will give it out. I don’t fancy being a billionaire. One day we will all die and nobody will enter the grave with money. Every term I pay over N80 million as school fees for secondary and primary school pupils. I am not taking about people I have in higher institutions. One of them came out the other day to thank me. So, everything God has given me, I give it out. There is joy in helping the people. I love it with my life. I don’t want to keep anything that God has given me.
I want to leave a legacy. I don’t see the need of having money and people are going through pains. I give out things given to me. I don’t touch offering money. The only thing I use offering money to do is charity. I see it as a curse for me to touch offering money for my personal need. I have never for one day used any money for the ministry for my personal need. But I use it to help people. I don’t even use offering money to buy car. Every car I have people gave to me. I love helping people.
How would you liken the claim by some that miracles are being faked?
I don’t blame those people that said that because during the time of Jesus, they also said fake. But I don’t know why people will wake up and say he performed a fake miracle whereby the person the miracle happened to, before he will allow you to perform he will mention your name, your village, your local government area and your state for verification. You will give us evidence of the past and after the miracle. You know, when you are doing well, people must look for something to bring you down. That is the nature of people. Yes, there could be a video of some pastors that are doing fake miracles, but that does not mean everybody does that. Every Sunday, we normally ask people to submit their charms because so many people go to church and still have charms in their pockets. So, every Sunday and Wednesday, we will say if you are that kind of Christian that have charm and you are going to church submit it. So people are submitting their charms willingly every Sunday.
One day, early this year, about 12 of them came out. One of them called Jonathan, I don’t know him. He said I saw you in my dream when you were praying, you are a wonderful person. I was putting microphone in their mouth to talk why they decided to submit their charms. It is in our video. I don’t know the man anywhere, I didn’t give him prophecy that he has charm. He came out with other people when I said if you know you came with your charm come out. He came out on his own. The next thing, I was surprised, one church very close to us called him. It is like he was going to that church. They didn’t even allow him to talk, they asked him to kneel down. They told him that he has been going to pastors to say he has charm so they will give him money. The man was afraid, he was shaking.They started saying that Ebuka is doing arrangee. I was asking myself, I didn’t give him prophecy, he didn’t say he was healed. It was just that he came out to submit his charm. The man said one church close to us called him. He said he had been there before and they have his number but they don’t use to submit charm there, so he didn’t need to bring out his charm there. He said when he noticed that people submit their charm here was when he decided to bring it out. The man still comes to Zion Ministry till today. They still call him. Calling him for what? Was he the only one that came out that day? What do I need to get that he submitted his charm? But that circulated everywhere. Some enemies of Zion kept pushing. That was even before Ngor Okpala. Those nonsense they talk even promoted us more because when your hand is clean, God will always make a way for you when there is no way. I don’t know what they call fake in my life. What I am doing is not what I learned. I was born with it. So, how can I fake my life? And how many years will you do fake without you being caught? This is about 16 years of Zion Ministry. Nobody has ever come out to say he did fake with me. You cannot hide the truth for a long time. You cannot hide lies, you cannot cover it for a long time. We are online for 24 hours. Every programme that I am doing is on air. I don’t blame them so much those that say fake. They don’t understand. Carnal people cannot understand things of the spirit. Sometimes when we pray people fall on the ground and they will say this is arrangee, this is fake. They did it to Jesus. These people saying we are doing fake are in the club. They are not born again. How can you be in club, some of them may even be on top of a woman that time they are saying fake.
The Bible says taste every spirit. If you go to a church where the spirit of God dwells you will know. The Bible says by their fruit you shall know them. When a man of God will be telling you fetish things or will be after money or say bring money let me work for you, that person is a native doctor in disguise. No authentic man of God will charge you money to pray for you. That is one the signs to know the fake ones. They will tell you to bring money to buy spiritual materials. That is a native doctor in suit.
And any man of God who doesn’t speak the word of God, any miracle outside the word of God is fake because the word is life that took flesh and dwells among us. So when you go to any church where they are doing fake, you will know. And no man of God does fake without his team. If I am doing fake or arrangee, I can’t do it alone. I must be working with my workers and those workers will still know. Test all my Zion workers here, I don’t bother because they know I don’t have anything contrary with them. Except you don’t have the spirit of God, you will be deceived. They will tackle you to fall on the ground instead of calling the anointing to do that. They will tell you to pay tithe for baby in your womb and you will show seed upon seed. They are the ones that will tell you the amount that you will sow; they are the ones that will tell you how many bags of cement that you will bring. That is the evidence of being fake because Jesus never tasked people. It’s only when we have project that we call for support. There is nothing I will do for those that came out that I will not do for those that didn’t come out. It’s not force. I don’t treat those that are supporting differently. You must have silver and gold before you meet some men of God. There is one that somebody told me about. Before you meet with him or her, you will first call the secretary and the secretary will tell you the amount of money to pay. They will confirm the alert, then they will give you daddy or mummy’s number. When you call daddy or mummy, then he will tell you how much you will pay. Some of the them are very big pastors, but it not biblical. It’s fetish practices and that is symbol of being fake. There are a lot things to know those that are fake. People that are telling you things outside the Bible. A man of God that cannot make 10 quotations, but everything he talks is story. Outside the pulpit what is his life all about? Some of them sleep with their workers. Some of them have done abortions to their people. So, there are so many things to know fake people.
What about the arrangements concerning continuity? Are you grooming people? Is there plans for expansion because people come from far and near?
It’s a very good question. In fact, it’s one of our problems here. I don’t even know the mindset of Zion members. We have some people that can preach here, but any time they come online and see that I am not there, they will reduce in number. It’s very wrong. I have talked to the members. It’s the same grace that this person has is the same grace another has in the ministry. Because of that, I push to do most of things I am not supposed to be doing again. I don’t think a good institution can be built in that way. We are training some people now. It’s one of our big problems. People have so trust much in me that if they don’t see me sometimes they don’t come, which is totally wrong.
Evangelist, when will you marry?
I pray it happens this year. I have never been as serious as I am now. Everybody should help me and pray.
You talk so much about family values and wives being loyal to their husbands. What informed this interest in the family?
This is because marriage values are going down every day. There is a programme we normally have every Tuesday and see couples coming from all over the world and boldly telling me their experiences. The issue is that I grew up with my father and mother being together. But now it’s a totally different thing. Some women used to come and tell me to pray for their husband to die. They say their husband is a trouble maker. I will ask, how can I pray for your husband, the father of your children, to die? These are the kind of things we hear these days. People now marry because of one thing or the other and because of that the rate of divorce is high. Go to courts in Abuja and Lagos here let them give you the number of people divorcing. The thing in the western world whereby you can marry and in the next few months you are out is already happening here. And it is not the will of God. Specifically, Jesus said he hates divorce. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and join with a woman.
