neither on a rescue mission like
Messiah who paid the debt he did not
owe nor was coerced to go through the
Calvary tortures like Jesus did for the
sake of humanity.
However, the story of this man who
returned from the great beyond is
worth celebrating.
April 11 this year, Sotunde embarked
on a journey from Gboko, in Benue
State to Kano, but unfortunately, the
bus conveying the ex-soldier crashed
on the way, claiming him and 17 others
passengers on board.
However, Sotunde woke up three days
after in the mortuary, where his body
and others were deposited for their
families to claim for burial.
According to the 'old soldier' who
refuses to die, his corpse was taken out
of the mortuary and was being
prepared for burial when he suddenly
came back to life.
He narrated his experience to Sunday
Sun in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Excerpts of the interview:
Journey from Gboko to mortuary
On that fateful day, that was April 11,
2013, I was travelling from Gboko to
Kano to see my younger brother, Jide
Sotunde, a soldier serving in Kano. We
had agreed on the journey which we
had thought would afford us to discuss
important issues, including the
possibilities of getting another job that
would not be too far from where I had
my wife.
I retired from the Nigerian Army,
(Supply and Transport), Apapa Lagos
where I served for 30 years, during
which I also participated in many peace
keeping force assignments outside
Nigeria.
After retirement, I got a job as a
security guard at the Dangote Cement,
Gboko, Benue State from where I also
resigned because of the distance of my
workplace and where my family was
based in Osogbo.
The ill-fated vehicle was an 18-seater
passenger bus, which I boarded in
Gboko en-route Kano. We were barely
two hours into the journey when a
passenger asked us to pray. Since it was
a normal thing for a passenger to offer
to pray on such a long journey, I did
not heed his call. I was just playing
with my mobile phone set.
Aside from that, I didn't believe in the
prayer since I didn't know anything
about Jesus Christ. I was a freethinker
who neither went to church nor
worshipped any idol. We were making
progress on the journey when suddenly
there was a bang. That was all I could
recollect about the journey until I woke
up three days after in the mortuary of
the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching
Hospital, Kano where I was told that I
died in an accident and my corpse
along with other 17 passengers were
deposited there.
Even though the hospital authorities
told me that I was in their morgue for
three days as a dead man, I actually
spent more days there before I could
regain my senses.
I was to be buried in Kano
I was told that before I returned from
the land of the dead, my family had
instructed my younger brother who I
was visiting in Kano before the accident
to bury me in Kano since they could not
afford the N150,000, which was said to
have been requested by transporters to
take my corpse from Kano to Abeokuta.
My elder sister, Moradeke Sotunde
played a prominent role in this regard.
I was also told that it was at the point
that my corpse was being prepared for
interment that suddenly I returned to
the land of the living after my corpse
was taken out of the mortuary for
prayers by Islamic clerics who were
said to have sprinkled water on my
corpse preparatory to my burial. I was
also told that my hair was also shaved
as demanded by the clerics.
I was told that my corpse was taken out
of the mortuary after they had dug my
grave and organised some clerics to
offer the funeral prayers.
They wanted to bury me in Kano
because my family members couldn't
afford N150,000 demanded for
carrying my corpse to Abeokuta for
burial. The initial plan was to move my
corpse back home to Abeokuta, where a
grave had been dug but for the
transportation cost.
Life in the land of the dead
My brother, truly, there is life after
death. I can also tell you that there is a
living God. You may not believe me,
but I am a living witness to this. I may
not be able to describe Heaven or Hell,
but there is another life after this one
that we are living.
This place I am talking about is full of
snow. I may not have been to America,
but I have heard about snow. Where we
were was full of snow, with plenty of
something that I can describe as alum
stones; whitish in colour with
something I can describe as granite in
this physical world. In spite of the
terrible cold, there was no day that we
felt cold and it was never harmful to us.
All of us were there without knowing
whether we are male or female. We
couldn't see our eyes, mouth and nose.
We had no leg; we had no arm, but we
floated in the air without our bodies
touching the ground. We were flying
around what I will describe as another
planet.
On the third day of my arrival on the
strange planet, they gave me a message
that we were expecting one big prophet.
After the message was delivered, they
nominated ushers among us to
welcome the prophet. And seconds
later, people started trooping in,
jubilating as if a goal was just scored in
a football match.
On that planet, there were many stars,
which were not stable in one place, like
we have in the sky in this world. I
noticed that on a daily basis, people
kept on increasing, even though we
don't know from where they came.
I was in this mood until they (I don't
know them) told me that I should go
back home to work for the Lord.
According to them, there were many
people in the world who are not only in
bondage, but are also afflicted with
human pains. They also instructed that
I should work for the Lord and heel
people. I was even arguing, putting up
some resistance that I could not do it.
This was the condition I found myself
until I opened my eyes and saw Jide,
my younger brother in this part of the
world again.
In God's vineyard
Since the Lord has directed me to work
for Him, I will surely do so because 'to
be forewarned, is to be forearmed.' It
was because of this that I went to do
my thanksgiving service at the
Mountain of Fire and Miracle, in Lagos
with the General Overseer, Pastor
Olukoya.
The Lord has started performing
miracles in other people's lives through
me. I don't want to sound boastful, but
God has started using me. I do pray for
people now and they usually return to
tell me that their problems have been
solved. It is the Lord's doing.
I have already prayed for a woman who
has married been for 14 years without a
child that God will give her the fruit of
the womb. The person who lives in
Ikorodu spoke to me through the
telephone and I believe Lord will
answer her prayers and request. I have
accepted to work in God's vineyard till I
return to Him.
Day I returned to Abeokuta
I caused a stir in this area when I
returned alive to Abeokuta because
people including my family members,
except my brother who was with me
when I rose from the dead, did not
know I had risen from the dead.
On arrival in Abeokuta, we played
pranks on my people as they did not
know that I was returning to home
alive that day.
When we got nearer home, the person
that accompanied me decided to call
Kemi, my mother's last born that we
were already in Abeokuta. When my
sister saw me, she fainted and was later
revived. She was shivering when she
woke up.
We later told her to return home to tell
others that I had risen from the dead.
On my way, I saw people mourning me,
wearing black attire.
I trekked a distance of about 800
metres to my father's house. There, a
grave had also been dug beside my late
father's before the family decided to
bury my corpse in Kano. I waved as
people were expressing shock and
disbelief at seeing me alive. When I
attempted to move closer to a woman
in her shop, she ran away, thinking I
was a ghost and pleading that she had
no hands in my death. My sister,
Moradeke who lives in Lagos was also
wearing a black attire, mourning along
with others until I returned home
I returned to Abeokuta on the very day
I was to be buried. I even met many of
the mourners, wearing black (including
my sisters) who had gathered in my
father's house here, (Sabo Abeokuta).
There was also a particular woman who
threw away the beans meal she was
eating and ran away from her shop
when she sighted me.
I kept on saying that I was not dead,
but she found it difficult to believe me.
Health challenges
Although I have returned from the land
of the dead, I have not fully regained
my health as I am talking to you. I have
both chest and body pains. In fact,
medically speaking, I am not alright. I
usually run strange temperature. That
was why I visited the Federal Medical
Centre, Idi Aba for medical treatment. I
vomit blood each time I cough. I can't
engage in any hard labour.
Besides, a lot of strange things have
started happening to me. Sometimes, I
feel as if I am still in the mortuary. I
will be seeing a lot of heads. My sight is
not normal, it sometimes fails me. I
have also started giving messages to
people about things that they don't
know about their family.
I started revealing to them what had
happened in the past to their
astonishment. This has made many
people to run away from me with some
describing me as a demon. To be sure
that I am not a ghost, I tried to relate
with my friends as well as eat with
them. Despite this a few of my friends
still avoid to shake hands with me,
thinking that I am a ghost.
I am homeless
You ask where I live? To answer
straight, I am homeless, because I am
currently squatting with my younger
sister, causing her and her family
inconveniences. Even though she is not
complaining, I know that I am inconveniencing her.
I have been given quit notice in Osogbo
after my landlord heard of the incident.
According to him, he could not live with
Akudaaya (ghost). I stayed at No 1,
Rasco Hall, Oke Fia, #Osun State,
Osogbo, It was the ejection that
informed my living with my sister here
(Abeokuta).
I need serious financial assistance from
well-meaning Nigerians to take care of
my health and sustenance. Survival is
difficult for me. That is why I appeal to
Nigerians to come to my aid. I want to
stop being a burden to my sister and
her nuclear family. I want individuals
as well as corporate bodies and churches to help me financially. God will surely replenish their purses in abundance in Jesus name.
I had a broken home some years back
and I remarried two years ago, but
when the incident happened, the
woman abandoned me and ran away
from Osogbo.
I want to appeal to Nigerians and other
people that there is God. I want them
to believe that there is life after death;
so we should do good to our fellow
beings. Heaven and Hell are real.
Where we want to go is an option for us
to decide. I want people to know that it
is just a matter of seconds between life
and death.
www.trueheart2love.diydating.com
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