A popular self-acclaimed prophet, Ebuka Obi, has been enmeshed in a fake miracle scandal.
Mr Obi is the founder of Zion Prayer Movement Outreach, a Christian ministry headquartered in Lagos State.
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How it began
During his Night of Open Heaven, a daily online prayer programme, Mr Obi prophesied that a certain lady called “Loveth” would soon receive God’s favour and celebrate.
The prophet claimed God revealed to him he (God) had remembered Loveth.
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“The prophecy will be played on the day of her testimony,” he assured.
A video clip which showed the prophet making the remarks has been circulating on Facebook.
In February, a woman who identified herself as Loveth Aluu visited the ministry and claimed that Mr Obi’s prophecy had manifested in her life.
Ms Aluu, in the testimony in a video clip, claimed that she witnessed a breakthrough after Mr Obi, whom she calls “daddy,” prophesied about her.
She said her business was on the verge of collapse, but after the prophecy, it boomed, which resulted in her buying a mansion worth N500 million in the Lekki Area of Lagos State.
“After daddy prophesied to me, things started happening. Money started dropping. I would just stay, and people would be ordering my goods,” she said.
“Zion is the best. This is the last bus stop. I have my evidence here.”
“Where is the evidence?” Mr Obi asked her.
Ms Aluu then submitted a video clip of the mansion, which she claimed she bought with proceeds of her booming business due to the prophecy.
Mr Obi began jubilating while members of the congregation danced and clapped in celebration.
“Here! Here!! Hee!!! This is a mansion built by a young lady,” he exclaimed.
The prophet then prayed fervently and asked the congregants to “claim” the miracle so that they could experience similar favour from God.
The fake miracle
However, last week, Ms Aluu was seen selling bottled water and soft drinks in a small shop in Enugu State.
In a video clip circulating on Facebook, the lady acknowledged that she had falsely testified at the Zion ministry that she had purchased a mansion worth N500 million.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Ms Aluu was later arrested by Robo Consult, a construction and real estate firm that owns the mansion the lady had claimed she bought.
In a video clip posted on Facebook by Robo Consults on Sunday, some firm officials described the woman’s testimony as “entirely false, fraudulent and misleading.”
“The lady in question is currently in the police net, and we are trusting that the whole truth will be unravelled,” the company said in a post accompanying the clip.
C. C. Ugadu, a member of the company’s legal team, said in the clip that, contrary to the woman’s claim, the mansion was located at WTC Estate in Enugu.
Mr Ugadu, a lawyer, said the property was built by the company and was yet to be sold to anyone as of Sunday.
He said that apart from the woman, all the people involved in the scheme to mislead Nigerians would soon be prosecuted.
A female staffer of the company explained that Ms Aluu actually visited the mansion on the pretext that she had a client who desired to buy the property.
“While touring the building, she went around with a prospective client, according to what she told us. After a few minutes, she requested to talk to the client in private.
“So we allowed her to talk to the client in the building for a few seconds. Unknown to us, she made a video of herself inside the building, claiming she had already paid for the building,” the staffer narrated.
During an interrogation, Ms Aluu was heard admitting that she falsely made the testimony at the ministry.
“I did not build it (the mansion). We were processing to buy it. I don’t own the mansion,” she said.
Ebuka Obi speaks
During his Night of Open Heaven on Saturday, Mr Obi argued that the false testimony by Ms Aluu was not his making.
The prophet, accused of performing fake miracles, vowed that the ministry would track down the woman.
“Do I know her? Does any member know her? She came to testify the way hundreds of people come to testimony every day.
“So, if indeed the house she said she bought is fake, then she lied before God and his altar, not the ministry,” he stated.
He claimed that an unnamed priest based in the South-east contracted some bloggers to circulate the allegation of fake miracles to blackmail the ministry.
Mr Obi argued that prophets do not always receive revelations, explaining why he failed to spot the woman as fake.
“No prophet sees all the time. No prophet hears (from God) all the time. Even Elijah and Elisha, Caleb. The Spirit of God comes (at times),” he argued.
Mr Obi said during a Sunday service that his legal team had submitted a petition to the police regarding the matter.
“We want to know who sent her. We want to know who her sponsor is. We will follow the case to any length,” he vowed.
