This is a true and a remarkable story of bravery and courage in the face of savage Muslim persecutions! Realize that this story is not of old like in the days of John or even Paul. This story is about a man that was martyred for Jesus Christ in 2009 in Maiduguri, Nigeria (Northern part of Nigeria). May God prepare us to be willing to die for Jesus Christ courageously when the time comes. Read this true story and be challenged and encouraged!
"Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."Revelation 2:10-11
Love always,Yomi & Marie Opeola-Messiri
“Tell My People, I Died Well!”
Rev OrjiThe Untold Story of How Rev Godwin Orji Was Slaughtered
and Roasted to death in Maiduguri, Bornu State of Nigeria
by Wicked and Heartless Servants of Allah!!!
Pastor Godwin Orji as he’s often addressed by all standards was a complete gentleman. He was very much an easy going man of God who tended caringly to his congregation in the city of Maiduguri. That Sunday incident however left a permanent mark in his heart and life. On that fateful Sunday, there was tension in some Northern States of Nigeria as the Boko Haram violence spread.
Police stations had been attacked and sacked and many security operatives killed as the onslaught against the anti-western education Muslim fanatical group intensified. Residents of Maiduguri were particularly under siege as the as the group deployed its full might, unleashing mayhem against the state. For three days running, businesses and human activities had been grounded in the State of Bornu on the account of the raging crisis. Security agencies were finding Boko Haram a hard nut to crack as the exchange of fire intensified.
Elder Ndah, 39, who had lived in Maiduguri for fifteen years with his wife and a kid was unable able to attend church service that Sunday as everywhere was tense. He was an Elder in the “Good News of Christ Church International”. He and Pastor Orji decided to go to town to assess the security situation.“We wanted to know how things were going so that we could know what to do”, he recalls last Wednesday.
The trip revealed that the situation was still very tense. So, they headed home to adopt a “wait-and-see attitude. But then, his Pastor Rev. George Orji remembered that he needed to buy some clothing materials for his children. Since Elder Ndah was around, Rev Orji asked if he could accompany him to town. Though, he had reservations, Ndah agreed and hopped in the car and they drove off. “When we reached the State Low Cost Area, we entered there and there was no apparent problem. However, we got deep into the heart of the area, we found out that there some very strange people”, Ndah recounts. Being on the steering wheel, he was in vantage position to survey his environment. What he saw, he recalls was truly frightening! Around them were some scary people who tied clothes around the eyes. We could not recognize them because they had clothes tied on their faces exposing only their eyes. They looked so menacing and we panicked a lot. At this point there was already “Hell” in the heart of town. A melted Ndah reckoned that the best bet was for them to return home immediately. Facing his Pastor, he remembers telling him, “It appeared these people are in town, so let’s go back.” That was perhaps the only time the Pastor did not argue with me”. These people referred to the followers of the dreaded Muslim Jihadist known as “Boko Haram” group that held everyone to ransom.
In his wisdom, Ndah realized it was safer to reverse rather than make a U-turn. As he applied the reverse gear, two hefty men ostensibly of the Boko Haram appeared from nowhere, heading in their direction-Several thoughts ran through Ndah’s panic-stricken heart. Should he take to his heels or escape with the car? If he escaped, he would leave his pastor behind to face the menacing men, a possibility he immediately foreclosed. If they sprint, how far can they go? Deciding against all these, he moved towards the men who quizzed him and the pastor. Little did they know that the next few minutes would usher them into different worlds, leaving their lives permanently changed.
During the interrogation, Ndah leaned across the shoulder of one of the men and saw him with a knife. “I saw he had a knife that he was hiding behind him. The other one too had a long knife under his long clothes. Then, he removed them and confronted us with the knife.” Now that a showdown was imminent, Ndah thought of damning the consequences to overpower them. After all, it was two against two. But what about his pastor? Would he fight? “I know my pastor. He did not fight or struggle. I thought if I struggled with the first one, the second one would join and kill me right before my pastor. So, not to make it violent, I just relaxed but my spirit was telling me that there was a way we could escape.”
As if reading his mind, Rev. Orji told him not to attempt anything rash but simply follow the men when it became obvious they were to be abducted. With the knife-wielding men behind him, Ndah was instructed to drive towards somewhere he recognized as very close, just about one kilometer from his residence. What followed was a 20-hour madness and horrible experience, one that has left Ndah traumatized. Up to this point, Ndah’s heart was like steel, betraying no emotions, another vital skill he acquired after the horrendous encounter. But not anymore. He is still human by all means. Bating his eyelids, he shakes his head in dismay, rubbing tears. On arrival into Boko Haram’s enclave, ‘they laid us down and tied my pastor’s hands and legs first. They tied us to face the sun on the ground. There was a little boy caught somewhere close to me, he recalls.
The enclave, according to him, is an expansive compound with fortified walls close to where they call ‘railway’ behind the State low cost housing estate. Trying hard to describe the setting, he recalls they have two giant generators supplying power. When one went off, the other took over, he said, reinforcing the theory that there were powerful, rich forces behind the group’s operations. In the compound were scary men whose eyes he says were blazing with anger. “These men were terrifying. If you see them, they were terrifying. They were people you won’t like to see or look at. I avoided eye contact with them because they were terrifying. Less than one hour after their arrival, Ndah says he could count up to ten people who had been brutally murdered by the merciless group.
Meanwhile, soldiers had discovered the group’s hideouts and were advancing, firing sporadically in their direction. Ndah says their abductors decided to adopt several security measures. “They divided us into groups and the pastor and I were separated. They also told us to lie down so that the bullets won’t hit us.
“By this time however, several Nigerians in their custody had fallen to stray bullets. I could not count but many people fell down from bullets coming from the advancing soldiers, he states. Realizing the shots from the advancing soldiers were intolerable, Ndah says the group decided to confront their attackers. Ndah recalls the next action: “Something happened after they united us; they led us on what appeared an excursion. We were forced to look at the dead bodies around. Later, they paraded us before Mamman Yusuf where he sat “like a king”. One of our captors hit me with a gun and I fell. After Pastor Orji had his turn, Yusuf also looked into my eyes and asked me if I was ready to denounce Jesus Christ and follow Islam. Since death no longer scared me, I told him I was ready to die with Jesus. He then said, “tashi”, meaning stand up and they took me away to wait for my turn to die. But at that time, they decided to go and confront the military people. They brought out sophisticated weapons and Yusuf then got a microphone and called ‘his people to come out because the enemies were advancing.’ Yusuf was the leader of the group who was killed in controversial circumstances in the heat of the battle. According to him, many followers from the surrounding environs came out and joined the onslaught against men of the Nigeria security forces. “They were firing back and trying to repel the attacks against them.” But the ordeals were having a telling effect on Ndah. Seeing dead people around and the ruthlessness of his abductors left him dumb. “I lost control of my mind and I could not differentiate between morning and evening because I was in a trauma”, he says. Maybe outright death was better than trauma, Ndah thought. “I thought of death. Maybe it would relieve my trauma and free me”, he confesses. As he settled for the ultimate price, a ray of hope appeared. It came in the form of a skin nearby that his fellow abductees discovered. If they managed to go through, escape was sure. Not minding the risk, they took to their heels and Ndah followed suit. “Before I ran, I was afraid I could be recaptured. If that happened, I would certainly be killed but something told me to just keep running.”
Ndah said he was paraded in front of Boko Haram’s leader, Yusuf who insisted he must confess to Islam. Ndah refused to budge. He described him as a “fiery person with terrifying eyes.”
At that point of a critical decision, Ndah followed his heart and managed to get out of the enclave. But there were yet obstacles to total freedom. “When we got out of the place, we started running towards the railway. That was when we realized they had followers in the neighborhood. As we ran, they brought out knives to chase us. Thank God, they did not have guns because they would have killed given the proximity.” Ndah lives to tell the story but not his pastor.
A very reliable source said Rev. Orji was roasted to death along with 2 other Pastors who even at the point of death, refused to renounce Jesus Christ for Islam.
Another report said he was slaughtered and roasted on the personal orders of Yusuf, the deceased leader of the sect. The fearless and humble Rev. Orji leaves behind a pregnant wife, two children and tens of hundreds of spiritual children. As Orji faced his killers, the source hinted, he reportedly told another survivor, who is too traumatized to recount his ordeals, to “Tell my people, I die well (for Jesus Christ)”.
***This story is from the book The Satanic Verses of the Violence in Islam by Beddy Othman pages 37-43***
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