The Bible tells us to open our doors to the prophets of God and we would be blessed. Is that not so? My father, an 80-year-old man opened his house to Pastor Gboyega Emmanuel, a man who claims to know God and today, I wonder how come he has such a large congregation despite the fact that the man is clearly a fraud.
Some 15 years ago, myself and my younger brother combined money to build our father a house. It’s a four flats one storey building here in Ojokoro, Ijaiye. Our father has been living there since with the rest of our younger siblings who are yet to get married; our mother passed away many years ago. My brother and I have our own homes and families.
I am the eldest child of our parents so whenever there’s a problem in the family, they all come to me. Anyway, about three years ago, I was informed by my younger brother that Baba, our father, had given one of the ground floor flats to a certain Pastor Gboyega Emmanuel. I was told that my younger sister, who worships at the pastor’s church told baba that her pastor has accommodation problems, so she brought him and baba gave him that flat free of charge! Can you believe that?
The flat is on the ground floor and faces the street; I didn’t like the idea at all, though I know the house belongs to Baba and he can do what he likes with his house but still, I felt maybe the pastor was taking advantage of an old man. I told Baba and my siblings about my concern. But my two younger sisters said, we should give the pastor a chance, I was told he comes upstairs to pray for Baba regularly.
I said, “Ok, o”
After some time, I then started hearing that the tenant downstairs on the opposite side was always at logger heads with the pastor and it got so bad that one day, the man just moved out with his family because the pastor was always holding night vigil in the flat and disturbing the peace.
Again, it wasn’t long after this news that I was then informed that the pastor had taken over the flat vacated by the other tenant and expanded it to a bigger church.
That was when I intervened. This is not right at all. I cautioned my father about the pastor and I didn’t even understand why Baba wasn’t collecting rent from him, after all, he had taken the entire ground floor. Church member pay tithes, don’t they? Pastors take offerings, don’t they? And I heard the church was always very full on Sundays, making noise in the entire area. So they must have money to at least pay their rent. I also reminded Baba and my siblings that his upkeep was being jeopardised because rent from tenants augmented Baba and my sibling’s upkeep but Baba was adamant; he said the pastor was doing the work of God and that God would find a way to take care of him and his children.
To make things worse, my younger sister, who is my father’s last born and who brought the pastor to the house in the first place became quarrelsome and demanded I leave pastor alone. We had a serious quarrel that day because she’s much younger than me and has no right to challenge me over my concern for their overall welfare.
So I called for a family meeting because I couldn’t imagine that one pastor will be the reason why I will be quarrelling with my family. That was where I found out that the pastor had been sleeping with my youngest sister. She’s just 20 years old and she is already pregnant for him!
The evil pastor told her God told him to marry her. We were trying to convince her that he is a false pastor when my other sister, that one is 25 years just fainted.
Wahala ti de, o
Everybody thought it was from some sickness, so we rushed to revive her. Hummmn, this world, can you also believe this?
My other sister is also pregnant for the pastor! These are well educated young women, not some roadside girls, o. In fact, it is very embarrassing to me; a big shame!
Both of them had been sleeping with the pastor in the same house without the other knowing about it. He had been telling them the same lies and the foolish girls believed him. It serves them right. I’m not even going to do anything to help them because they refused to heed my warnings. They labelled me the evil brother. See their lives now, made useless by one fake pastor. Every day vigil, every day fasting, see the result!
But that is not even the worse of the whole wahala, o, as far as I am concerned, since the pastor did not rape both of them and they are both above 18 years, they should carry their own cross.
The biggest wahala is that the pastor was trying to sell our father’s house. Somehow, the person who wanted to buy the house was a friend of a friend who knew the house belonged to my father. When he saw the papers and address, he called me and told me what was going on; I immediately went to the police station.
Then the police set a trap for the pastor about a buyer who is interested in buying the house and the rogue pastor fell right into it.
That’s justice. He will pay for this and everything he has done against my family!
Compiled by Peju Akande