The Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Lagos have arrested 44-year-old woman, Bose Olasukanmi, who was used by several pastors to perform fake miracle in their churches.
The woman’s fake miracle was brought to light in October last year after several videos of her being ”healed” of her bad hand, surfaced online. According to Guardian, police sources say Olasukanmi moved to a different church after being paid for every successful performance so that their trick would not be exposed by people or relations who may see her during her next performance.
Speaking to newsmen after her arrest, Olasukanmi recounted how she got into the business of ”fake miracles”
“I am from Ilesha, Osun State. I am married. I had three children. Unfortunately, two died few hours after delivery. My husband loved me so much that he did not want me to do anything. He wanted me to be a housewife and he had been honouring my request and he treated me like a queen.
Unfortunately, when he died, my life changed and I started suffering as everybody abandoned me. Though I had my primary school certificate, the only work available at the time was to go and serve a food seller at least, to be sure of daily bread. When the suffering became unbearable, I decided to relocate to Lagos for a greener pasture in 1989. Unfortunately, in 1990, I lost my mother and I went back home to give my caring mother the last respect.
After the burial of my mother I came back to Lagos and secured a job in a food restaurant in Surulere area of Lagos without salary as Food Assistant. However the owner of the food center allows me to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner as I liked. Even customers sometimes gave me tip, which I used to buy soap to wash my clothes, body cream and personal need. I did not save a dime but it helped me a lot.
I worked for 9 years without salary and I had no alternative than to start planning on how to open my own food center or even food hawking in Surulere. Unfortunately for me, as I was walking on the road, one evening, a vehicle from nowhere had a break failure hit me to the ground and broke my right arm and left leg.
I had no money to treat myself as the driver that hit me abandoned me later. Life became hard for me, as I had stopped living with my sister before I had the accident. I lost my husband in October 2018 and this made me to go and live with my sister, but when I secured this food-selling job, I relocated by renting a room in the same Surulere area.
After the accident, everyone abandoned me and I had no money to continue to pay for a room.
It was under this condition that I met a woman friend in 2008. Her name is Fatila Musa. She used to give me money to eat and ameliorate my suffering. One day she took me to her church and told me that the church had a two-month programme that would start from September to October and she would like me to accompany her.
When I accepted, she told me that I should use what I have to get what I want. I did not understand what she meant by using what I have as woman to get what I want considering what the accident had done to my body. She then told me that what I have can help me to get what I wanted and that that gift I have is my broken right arm.
I then asked her how? She said she would teach me how to carry my hand and how to bring it down in such a way that the congregation would believe me and when I collect the money for the role I played, it will be reasonable to start my life.
After a one-day rehearsal, she took me to a pastor at Calvary Close, Ogba area of Lagos.She said the name of the church is Radiant Army Deliverance Ministry a.k.a Anthony Anthony.
The first day I performed, I got N9, 000. Life became sweet as the pastors were happy with my performance, but when people started gossiping that police may raid the place one day, the pastor told members to be carrying me away fast anytime I finish my performance.
When the suspicion became too much, they started substituting my role with video recorded performance. In 2009 she carried me to a church in Port Harcourt. I performed in three churches in the three days we stayed there. The same year, we moved to Abakiliki area of Ebonyi State.
I am a moslem, but the pastor, prophet Goffrey Abbey would only ask me to bring my hand down and I will start bringing it down as if his power was the thing bringing it down and be jumping up in joy to the deceit of the congregation who often clapped with joy and praising God for the miracle. I cannot remember the names of all the churches she took me to because their names were not disclosed to me.
When I was in Lagos, she used to come and carry me in my rented one room apartment at Igando area of Lagos but in Port Harcourt and Abakaliki, she puts me in one of the rooms in the church premises. The performance in Port Harcourt was in Borikkiiri area.
After 9:00.am, I would follow Fatila to wherever she wanted us to go and sleep. She never used me for prostitution”.
Speaking further, she said
I lost my conscience because suffering weakened my sense of reasoning. I needed money to treat my hand and everybody abandoned me. I needed to feed myself. I needed to survive.
Though I want to be healed, but with this experience, it would be hard for me to believe any pastor again. I don’t believe any pastor can heal me. If I see all the pastors involved in the scam with me, I will confront them. They cannot deny me. If I see the woman, Fatila that carried me to them, I will hold her. I won’t mind the help she rendered to me because she used me to make money also and paid me peanuts.
My only regret is that I knew that it was a fake miracle performance, which deceived many genuine children of God and enriched the fake miracle performing pastors and prophets.
It is this same fake miracle performance I was involved in that made my father to get stroke when he heard that they were using me to make money.
In the first performance I got N9, 000, second performance N7, 000, third performance N10, 000. In Port Harcourt I got N10, 000, N7, 000 and N15, 000 while in Abakaliki, I performed only once before IRT operatives stormed there and whisked me from where Fatila hid me. If I regain my freedom, I will not do it again. I will look for genuine business to do.
My advice to people who go to church is that they should open their eyes well and know the type of church they are worshipping. If they are careful, they would discover on time whether they are in a genuine church or with fake pastors and prophets. ”she said
Olasukanmi has promised the police to lead them to the different pastors that used her in exchange for her freedom.
