How Blind Cleric Prevented Prostitutes, Miscreants From Setting Ablaze Churches, Factories, Houses in Oyo Community

But for the timely intervention of the blind gospel evangelist and General Overseer of Hour of Mercy Prayer Ministry Worldwide (Orioke Alaseyori), Prophet Muyideen Moses Kasali, the last Eid-el-fitri holidays would have ended on tragic note for the Ilora community in Afijio Local Government area of Oyo State.

Kasali’s intervention prevented furious youths allegedly comprising mainly of prostitutes and area boys from setting ablaze some church, residential and business buildings belonging to a prominent native of the town, Mr Afolabi Francis (popularly known as Afos).

Afolabi, it was learnt, had been having a running with the monarch, the Akinbio of Ilora land, Oba Stephen Oyeniyi, who is also his cousin, allegedly over a huge sum of money the traditional ruler is owing him.

The rift between Afolabi and the monarch has also been taking toll on the community as many of its residents alleged that Afolabi was oppressing and enslaving them with his wealth and factories where he employed many of them.

Trouble started when the angry youths decided to visit their anger on Afolabi by burning his churches, factories and residential buildings in the community as their way of ensuring the community regained freedom and took a leap forward.

But Kasali, who persuaded the angry mob and successfully dissuaded the enraged youths from carrying out the arson, hinged his intervention on the need for proactive measures to nip in the bud anything capable of causing chaos and causing threat to peace and security of lives.

The blind gospel preacher, who said situations such as was obtainable in the community should be checked and put under control by security agencies and other well-meaning citizens before such snowballed into uncontrollable menace, said the Boko Haram insurgence troubling Nigeria started in little ways like that.

Kasali, who was in the community for a Christian revival programme, had revealed to youths that they have to embark on fasting and steadfast prayers to free the community from bondage of backwardness and underdevelopment which a rift between their monarch and an illustrious son had put it.

The prophet, who got wind of the plan of the youths to torch Afolabi’s churches, factories and houses, as a way of setting themselves free, had cleverly released money to the youths and miscreants as sallah gifts,

dissuaded the youths by telling them that the needed weapon of freedom was spiritual and as well mediated in the standoff between Oba Oyeniyi and Afolabi.

Relating the crisis in the community, a leader of the youth, said that they were angered by the fact that Afolabi was allegedly rude to the monarch simply because he lent him some money about three years ago.

He said that efforts by some eminent personalities to settle the dispute between the cousins by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi: Oyo State Government and other eminent personalities had been allegedly thwarted by Afolabi as he turned down their invitations sent to him.

The youth leader said: “We were angry that Afolabi refused to allow peace to reign by turning down many invitations extended to him on resolution of the matter.

His stubbornness on this matter has been taking a toll on the people of this community. He has refused to support the monarch in ensuring that we have meaningful development in the town.

“Afolabi has many businesses in this community. He has churches he built, he has factories and farms where many of our people work. He pays these people peanuts and treats them as slaves.

Every effort by the monarch to intervene and ensure that he helps our people have fallen on his deaf ears just because he is having issues with the man. What is his problem?, he queried angrily.

Another leader of the youths, who said the eyes of the youths eventually opened to their responsibilities for the town when Prophet Kasali held a crusade in the town

and made mention of the rift between Afolabi and the monarch through some prophetic utterances and declared that though the tussle is a bondage holding back the progress of the town,

the people of the town, especially the youths, could solve it once and for all by being more proactive in prayers.

He said: “Apart from the many signs and wonders in form of healing, deliverance and salvation among others God used the Prophet to perform among our people, the word of knowledge that he released about the three-year old rift between our monarch and Afolabi geared us up.

This is strange to us as the Prophet had come for the first time to our community and we believe God brought him in order to set us free from the bondage Afolabi had put us into.

“Many of the youths and people of the town were so excited with blind Prophet Kasali that we didn’t want him to leave our town and we followed him like a king to his church and his residence.

We rode about 400 motorbikes to accompany him and sang his praise as we followed him in a convoy all about the place.

“He prayed for us. So, when he said the freedom of the community lies in our efforts as youths, we decided to deal with Afolabi by burning down all his property in the town on the Sunday after the Sallah day.

But thank God we told the Prophet and he said we should rather mobilise ourselves and prevent people from worshipping in Afolabi’s churches on that day to stave off crisis.

A worshipper in one of Afolabi’s churches, who preferred anonymity, said the angry youths numbering over 300 consisting mainly of sex workers and area boys stormed church buildings built by Afolabi and prevented the usual Sunday services from holding there.

According to him, the irate youths beat many worshippers who proved stubborn out of the church auditoriums and chased them away to their houses.

The incident was reported to the police and a signal also went to the Oyo State Commissioner of police, that the town was on fire as irate youths had unleashed terror on the property of Afolabi.

The CP invited the parties involved, Afolabi, Prophet Kasali and the monarch to eventually settle the matter.

Speaking about attempt by the youths to burn Afolabi’s property and his role in it, Prophet Kasali said: “I had a powerful crusade in Ilora town on Sallah Day as the Lord led me.

God displayed his awesome powers during the crusade which was a vigil and lasted for hours till the morning of Saturday after the Sallah. Many people received miraculous healings, deliverance and salvation.

“The Lord also revealed that the people of the town were in bondage of backwardness courtesy of the rift between a leader of the community identified as Afolabi and their monarch. The Lord revealed that with fasting and prayers especially on the part of the youths, the matter would be settled.

“But you know, youths being who they are, possessed with youthful exuberance, misconstrued the message in their excitement and zeal for a rapid change, vowed to burn all the property of the leader.

And after attempts to dissuade them against the move, I gave them all the bags of the offerings we got at the crusade and told them to distribute it to all the miscreants, prostitutes

and area boys in the town for their Sallah celebration and I also mandated them to ensure that no one worshipped in Afolabi’s churches on that Sunday to prevent any form of attack.

“I said that if they could do that, God will deliver them from the bondage. I cleverly did this to prevent them from burning the church buildings as they had vowed. This was just wisdom of a prophet and it worked. The calamity was prevented, ” Prophet Kasali said.

Oba Oyeniyi, who expressed gratitude to Prophet Kasali and the Police Commissioner, told journalists that God had used them to settle the rift between him and his cousin, adding:

“This tussle would have consumed us but God has used both Prophet Kasali who prayed for us and released powerful prophetic utterances to free our community, and the Commissioner of police who invited Afolabi, my cousin and I to settle the dispute.

“Now, we will live in peace and I enjoin all my people to shun spreading rumours about the town and Afolabi so that peoples’ mind would not be poisoned and acrimony would not be promoted among our people.

This done, we would continue to have progress in the town, ” he said.

When asked to react to allegations of enslaving and oppressing the Ilora people, Afolabi declined comments, but his counsel, who preferred anonymity, said: “Many people don’t know the meaning of oppression and enslavement.

That involves locking up the enslaved or oppressed, but my client is not doing all that.

I’m just rubbing minds with you on this matter because many of your colleagues have not been fair to my client on this matter.”

By Gbenga Sodeinde, Ado Ekiti