However, the story of this man who returned from the great
beyondis 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,
wherehis 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 thoughtwould 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
thejourney 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
familyhad 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
byIslamic 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’tafford 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
oneplace, 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 Fireand 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
becausepeople including my family members, except my brother
who was with me when I rose from the dead, did not know I had
risen from thedead.
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. Ican’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
ofheads. My sight is not normal, it sometimes fails me. I have also
started giving messages to people about things that they don’t
knowabout 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 Iam 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
theincident. 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 togo is an option for us to decide. I want people to know
that it is just a matter of seconds between life and death
No comments:
Post a Comment