He was murdered. After about
seven days of inquiry into his ‘death’, his relatives went to the
mortuary with a coffin to take his body but were shocked to find him
alive.
Lazarus Oluwafemi Agbolahan Makinde, now an evangelist shares his story.
To
hear him, especially through the telephone receiver, you must be
determined and very patient. The first time this reporter called him,
the impression that initially came through as the voice was barely
audible, was that he must have been tired out or had some ailment. It
was indeed difficult deciphering the near whisper.
On
meeting him, he came through as a very happy man, and the way he
carried himself made that obvious. However, speaking with him explained
the cause of the piteous voice quality… His throat was slashed; his head
smashed and his genitals were severed in a bizarre murder act. But he
is alive to tell the story! And to work on the astonishing story he told
in Egba variant-tinted Yoruba language made it even more engaging,
considering the fact that he had no western education.
Evangelist
Makinde’s joy at being alive and able to bear children came through as
he struggled to be heard and understood. And this explains his eagerness
to tell his story over and over again.
Excerpts:
What Happened?
On
the fateful day, two of my journey-men came to me and said they would
like to go to my house with me and would sleep in my house. I asked them
why and they both said their brothers had visitors. I told them I would
not be driving home as I had intended to preach in the bus I would
board… I was rounding off a three-day fast. Nevertheless, we went home
together.
When we got home, I made three cups of tea and I went
out to buy bread so we could eat from the stew my wife had prepared
before she travelled. They said they were okay but I insisted. On my
way, a neighbour, who is also a member of our church, and my landlord’s
wife saw them and asked who my visitors were and I told them they were
my co-workers who had come to pass the night in my house.
While I
was away, they had added something to my tea and without knowing this I
blessed the tea and drank. I passed out. In that state of
unconsciousness, they slit my throat with a knife and removed my Adam’s
apple, smashed my head so much that my brain could be seen and also cut
my genitals. They took my money, locked me in the room and went away,
leaving me for dead. And to think that they were my employees I was
paying. One of them was Lukman Osunbiyi of Arigbajo near Ifo in Ogun
State.
After some days, a foul smell had enveloped our yard and
our neighbour’s. A neighbour known as Baba Isaac was the one that raised
the issue of what was smelling because my room was adjacent to his.
People were searching their rooms to find it. My room is on the way to
the conveniences of our compound and our landlord was the one that found
out that the smell was coming from my room. He called his wife, Mummy
Moji, and asked what could be smelling in my room, ‘has he got dogs?’
The woman said she knew I had no dog. The man said they should send for
my relations but they called our church members.
When the church
members arrived at the scene, they said they could not break the door.
So, they went and fetched my brother who was at Itire-Ijesha, known as
Brother Kunle. He was the one that drove to Area G police station at
Ogba. The police came, demanded for the duplicate key to my room from
the landlord and he told them he could not lay his hands on the spare
key. The police broke the door and they found my body in a pool of blood
in the room… After four days.
This was late in the night of the
fourth day. They took me to Idi Araba (Lagos University Teaching
Hospital) and they were told to go and bury me. They went to Island
Hospital, I was rejected; they went to Igbobi and they also rejected me
there. I was eventually deposited at the Ikeja General Hospital
mortuary. On the seventh day after the incident, members of our family
went to Ikeja to retrieve my body. They went with a coffin, but the
Almighty God had some point to prove. I was stacked with other dead
bodies and when they got to me, they saw that I had raised my left hand
and was waving it.
There was shouting and commotion at the
mortuary. They took me into the hospital for treatment. I noticed that
the doctors were confused as to where to start from or what to do. They
had cut my throat and severed the oesophagus, my head was wide open
while my manhood was dangling. But God raised one of the doctors, a
white man named Daniel, through whom my rehabilitation commenced at the
Ikeja General Hospital. He was the one who began some repairs of my
throat and head. But it was difficult because the throat was gone, it is
a cartilage and could hardly be sewn; while my head could sustain
nothing and was gushing.
But somehow, he managed to cut an
opening though the base of my neck and created a duct through which I
was fed and given medicines. Breathing was a huge task, given the wound
and the pain. And remember, my genitals were severed and suture was also
nearly impossible.
There were lots of plastic holds and bandages
on my neck and others… it was a sight to behold. I was later
transferred to the ward.
It will interest you to know that while I
was there in the ward, God appeared to me on two different occasions
and said: “I am the Lord, your God. I have a task which you must
accomplish.” After four days in the ward, all the pipes on me were
removed by God knows who. Yes, my eyes were open but I could not see. It
is needless to say that I could not talk. How and when the pipes were
removed, I did not know. I kept hearing a voice telling me: “Am I not
your God?” Amid that voice, the plastic and other things on my head were
removed. When the nurses and others saw what had happened, there was
commotion. They were asking who removed the things. They thought I had
died and were confused.
When Dr Daniel arrived, he saw what had
happened and exclaimed that he had never seen such a thing before.
Eventually, they took me back to the theatre. He tried to replace the
pipes and so on.
So, were there arrests after you came back to life?When
the news spread that I had resurrected, one of the persons that killed
me committed suicide. The man’s was known as Olumide Timilehin. Lukman
Osunbiyi ran away. I was told I could not procreate because my genitals
had been severed. Secondly, the doctors also said that my brain was gone
and that I would just be kept in a place and be fed and that I would
not speak. I was passed as vegetable. It was such a difficult period.
But God had some other plans.
One day, as our pastor was walking
towards me and I just called out his name… I mean Pastor Oke, who was
our pastor then at Christ Freedom Evangelical Ministry. That was the day
I regained my voice and began to talk again. It was a great day of joy.
In fact, when my mother heard what had happened, she walked to Ikeja,
almost naked, to see for herself. Even after that incident, I still
remained rooted to a spot, immobile.
While there, I kept hearing
the police and the people talk about Lukman. The police asked me if I
knew where he lived and I said I knew the place in Mushin. They asked if
I could see and I said yes, just put me in the vehicle. When we got to
Lukman’s residence at Mushin, we were directed to where he was at play.
When we arrived at the place, they crosschecked his face with that in
the photograph they had and saw that it was him truly. He attempted to
jump over the fence but he was arrested by the policemen and my family
members.
They accused him of murder and the matter was taken to
court. It was during the hearings in court that Lukman revealed how they
came about committing the murder. He spilled the beans, and revealed
those who paid them to kill me. He said it was my half-brothers that
paid him and Olumide to kill me in my room. There also, one of my
brothers admitted that they agreed among themselves, and with Lukman, to
just waste me.
Was Lukman jailed or what?
Towards
the end of the matter, pointers were that Lukman and others could be
sentenced to death as that was the submission of the state which was
prosecuting the case. On one of the hearing days, I raised my hand and
requested to speak. When I was given the opportunity, I asked that the
matter be left for God to judge. I said I wouldn’t want to see them
killed by the cause of this case. At some point in the matter, members
of the family of Lukman came to my family and offered me N2million then,
begging me to forgive their son and spare his life. They came through
my relations and expressed disappointment in their son and brother. They
were sorry and wanted to compensate me, but I said I did not need the
money. I told them that it was God that brought me back to life and I
therefore leave everything to Him.
What is your advice to people?
Anyone
that has Christ has it all… Anyone that has Christ and believes in Him,
and does the will of God. He says we are the temple of God and that He
would fight for us. He is that one that fought for me because we are
more than conquerors because of He who loves us. That is my story. I
didn’t even tell you about my tongue that I bit so hard when I was
struggling with death… I almost bit my tongue into two in the struggle
for life.
The address is Abeokuta Street at Oke Odo, in Pleasure
area. There is a Cherubim and Seraphim Church in front of the place. The
people there would tell more than I have because they saw it all.
