Confessions Of Dare-Devil Robbers…our Business Of Blood And Money – How T.b. Joshua Saved Us
Confessions Of Dare-Devil Robbers…our Business Of Blood And Money – How T.b. Joshua Saved Us
They are born by different parents. They are from different towns. They grew up in different places. But they have a common denomination. They were once armed robbers. Their trade ranges from robbing passengers of their mobile phones in moving buses to stealing goats, and to bloody, murderous highway hold ups. Their stories are lessons of how bad companies transform juveniles into daring sons of Barabbasâ. Sons of the gun. Their confessions were not given under duress, neither in a police cell. It came as a result of their life-changing encounter with General Overseer of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations, Prophet T.B. Joshua. The stranger-than-fiction true confessions by these three young men, who have repented from their evil way, further demonstrate the redeeming power of God.
They are now residents of The Synagogue where Prophet Joshua ministers daily to their physical, financial, mental and spiritual needs, trying to remould and mend their bent and jaded lives. Indeed, there are several other confessed armed robbers in the church who are being ministered to, reformed and returned to normal life by the renowned prophet.
The robbersâ rehabilitation programme is an outreach of an NGO recently formed by Joshua to bring career criminals to the saving knowledge of God. The repented trio left The Spectator mouth agape as they recounted their blood-curdling exploits in the crime world, eliciting tears, shock and sorrow, then remorse.
Excerpts:
Isaiah is a 33-year-old son of a retired soldier. He hails from Adamawa State, but grew up in Jos, Plateau State, where he first mixed up with bad company. His journey into crime blossomed in Delta State where he became a robbery kingpin.
What were you doing before you got involved in armed robbery?
I was a secondary school student then as far back as 2000. It all started from keeping bad friends; we would go out, drink alcohol and smoke Indian hemp. I didnât care. We stole money, and we spent it lavishly. We started like a small cult. We used to meet in one small cave. After my secondary school, I organized my own goal.
Tell me about your first operation, how did you organize it?
We have the presido, who was the leader of the gang. I double-crossed him because I was older than him and even stronger than him. Then, I carved out my own gang, my own boys from within that group. Out of the 17 boys in the original gang, 15 followed me because I assured them that in any operation we successfully carry out, the loot would be shared equally among us. The presido, on the other hand, cheated them.
You still have not told me about your first operation, how you organised it, where and how you executed it.
Well, I canât the exact date but I can say that the day was terrible and bloody. It was a highway robbery in Jos. Anyone that God delivered into my handâ¦
Did you say anyone God delivers to you?
Oh yes, because we normally prayed before taking to the road.
You normally prayed? In whose name?
In the name of God.
Which God?
I donât know. But we usually prayed before we go out, and if mother luck shines on us and business booms, sometimes, we could earn over one or two million in one outing. I had no fear for the police at all.
Why were you not afraid of the police?
Because my weapons were better than the policeâs.
Did you also have juju?
That is a must. Every strong armed robber must have something to protect him. Before I got that power, I slept in a grave for seven good days.
So, how did you get that power?
They told me if I sleep for seven days, I should not shout or be afraid if I see anything. That I should not run because things will come.
What were the things that came to you at the cemetery?
Sometime, things did come in the form of animals to frighten me.
So, once you pass through that stage, nothing frightened you again?
Nothing. Not even guns. And if police were on the way, my instinct would tell me. If the sign was ominous, I informed my boys to lie low and refrain from any operation. The day that my boys were killed, I warned them beforehand but they insisted on going because they were broke. That day, we exchanged shots with the police.
When was this?
That was in 2003. That day was bloody.
How many of your boys were killed in the exchange?
Three of them.
How did you survive it?
Not one bullet hit me because of the charms I had on me.
Apart from Indian hemp, were you also taking cocaine, crack and other hard drugs?
Every hard man