He was murdered. After about seven days of inquiry into his ‘death’ and sundry issues, his relatives went to the mortuary with a coffin to take his body but were shocked to find him alive.
Lazarus Oluwafemi Agbolahan Makinde, now an evangelist, tells Sam Nwaoko his story.To hear him, especially through the telephone receiver, you must be determined and very patient. The first time this reporter called him, the impression that initially came through as the voice was barely audible, was that he must have been tired out or had some ailment. It was indeed difficult deciphering the near whisper.
On meeting him, he came through as a very happy man, and the way he carried himself made that obvious. However, speaking with him explained the cause of the piteous voice quality… His throat was slashed; his head smashed and his genitals were severed in a bizarre murder act. But he is alive to tell the story!
And to work on the astonishing story he told in Egba variant-tinted Yoruba language made it even more engaging, considering the fact that he had no western education.
Evangelist Makinde’s joy at being alive and able to bear children came through as he struggled to be heard and understood. And this explains his eagerness to tell his story over and over again.
What Happened?...before the incident, my wife had travelled to our native Abeokuta to visit my mother.... On the fateful day, two of my journey-men came to me and said they would like to go to my house with me and would sleep in my house. I asked them why and they both said their brothers had visitors. I told them I would not be driving home as I had intended to preach in the bus I would board… I was rounding off a three-day fast. Nevertheless, we went home together.
When we got home, I made three cups of tea and I went out to buy bread so we could eat from the stew my wife had prepared before she travelled. They said they were okay but I insisted. On my way, a neighbour, who is also a member of our church, and my landlord’s wife saw them and asked who my visitors were and I told them they were my co-workers who had come to pass the night in my house.
While I was away, they had added something to my tea and without knowing this I blessed the tea and drank. I passed out. In that state of unconsciousness, they slit my throat with a knife and removed my Adam’s apple, smashed my head so much that my brain could be seen and also cut my genitals. They took my money, locked me in the room and went away, leaving me for dead. And to think that they were my employees I was paying. One of them was Lukman Osunbiyi of Arigbajo near Ifo in Ogun State.
After some days, a foul smell had enveloped our yard and our neighbour’s. A neighbour known as Baba Isaac was the one that raised the issue of what was smelling because my room was adjacent to his. People were searching their rooms to find it. My room is on the way to the conveniences of our compound and our landlord was the one that found out that the smell was coming from my room. He called his wife, Mummy Moji, and asked what could be smelling in my room, ‘has he got dogs?’ The woman said she knew I had no dog. The man said they should send for my relations but they called our church members.
When the church members arrived at the scene, they said they could not break the door. So, they went and fetched my brother who was at Itire-Ijesha, known as Brother Kunle. He was the one that drove to Area G police station at Ogba. The police came, demanded for the duplicate key to my room from the landlord and he told them he could not lay his hands on the spare key. The police broke the door and they found my body in a pool of blood in the room… After four days.
This was late in the night of the fourth day. They took me to Idi Araba (Lagos University Teaching Hospital) and they were told to go and bury me. They went to Island Hospital, I was rejected; they went to Igbobi and they also rejected me there. I was eventually deposited at the Ikeja General Hospital mortuary. On the seventh day after the incident, members of our family went to Ikeja to retrieve my body. They went with a coffin, but the Almighty God had some point to prove. I was stacked with other dead bodies and when they got to me, they saw that I had raised my left hand and was waving it.
There was shouting and commotion at the mortuary. They took me into the hospital for treatment. I noticed that the doctors were confused as to where to start from or what to do. They had cut my throat and severed the oesophagus, my head was wide open while my manhood was dangling. But God raised one of the doctors, a white man named Daniel, through whom my rehabilitation commenced at the Ikeja General Hospital. He was the one who began some repairs of my throat and head. But it was difficult because the throat was gone, it is a cartilage and could hardly be sewn; while my head could sustain nothing and was gushing.
But somehow, he managed to cut an opening though the base of my neck and created a duct through which I was fed and given medicines. Breathing was a huge task, given the wound and the pain. And remember, my genitals were severed and suture was also nearly impossible.
There were lots of plastic holds and bandages on my neck and others… it was a sight to behold. I was later transferred to the ward.
It will interest you to know that while I was there in the ward, God appeared to me on two different occasions and said: “I am the Lord, your God. I have a task which you must accomplish.” After four days in the ward, all the pipes on me were removed by God knows who. Yes, my eyes were open but I could not see. It is needless to say that I could not talk. How and when the pipes were removed, I did not know. I kept hearing a voice telling me: “Am I not your God?” Amid that voice, the plastic and other things on my head were removed. When the nurses and others saw what had happened, there was commotion. They were asking who removed the things. They thought I had died and were confused.
When Dr Daniel arrived, he saw what had happened and exclaimed that he had never seen such a thing before. Eventually, they took me back to the theatre. He tried to replace the pipes and so on.
Was Lukman jailed or what?Towards the end of the matter, pointers were that Lukman and others could be sentenced to death as that was the submission of the state which was prosecuting the case. On one of the hearing days, I raised my hand and requested to speak. When I was given the opportunity, I asked that the matter be left for God to judge. I said I wouldn’t want to see them killed by the cause of this case. At some point in the matter, members of the family of Lukman came to my family and offered me N2million then, begging me to forgive their son and spare his life. They came through my relations and expressed disappointment in their son and brother. They were sorry and wanted to compensate me, but I said I did not need the money. I told them that it was God that brought me back to life and I therefore leave everything to Him.
Before you began your ministry, how were you feeding and sundry things?People always rallied round me and for this I am very grateful to God. There were so many drugs given me at the Ikeja General Hospital by the government then and I always had food in various flasks people gave to me. I wouldn’t eat very hot things and I mostly eat fluids, like tea.
Between the incident and your evangelical work, how did you cope, how did you live?At the Bible school, I was pampered by the authorities of the college because they knew my story. After each day’s work, the leaders would take me in their car to my residence. As a matter of fact, I will say God had just perfected His work in my life.
So, your life is a thanksgiving?Yes, and I do a yearly special thanksgiving at my church. People come from far and wide to rejoice with me. They had marked the spot where the grave would be dug; they had come to the mortuary to carry my body at the General Hospital, Ikeja, then they saw that I was alive. So, why won’t I be grateful?
What about your relations who you said were behind this?A lot has happened between then and now, all of which I cannot possibly tell. God Himself has been my vengeance and He has avenged for me in so many ways. God has been the one in charge so much so that even the dead ones among them haunted the others; they experience nightmares and tell of themselves.
One of them had come several times to beg me, asking for forgiveness in every way. They told me that wherever they go to, they were told to go and seek forgiveness from the man they killed. I have handed over everything to God, I have no power of my own. They beg me always. People must not do evil; do no evil for the repercussions are sure...
.jpg)
.jpg)
