Branded

It began when she was six years old
Her mother took her to a man
The man and her mother talked for a long time
The man told her mother to take her to a room and 
take off her clothes
The man and her mother rubbed her with camwood 
and a strange oil afterward
When they were done
Her mother carried her on her knees while the made 
incisions all over her body
Around her waist, around her wrists and
 around her neck
The incision was scary and painful
She cried and screamed as loud as she could
Once the man was done, he left her with her mother
She just wanted to go back home
But her mother was in no hurry to leave 
the man's house
Later that evening, they took her to a stream
The man and her mother told her to stay there
They left some bean cake and cornmeal in a bag
And abandoned her there!
She tried running after them but they chased 
her back
Her mother was especially ferocious, throwing 
stones at her
She was scared and wondering what was going on
In all, she spent three days by the stream
She didn't know how she survived
She just did!
Huddled in a spot, crying and sleeping!
On the third day, her Father showed up
Her mother and the man were with him
The man told them she had been delivered 
of witchcraft
They paid the man and left with her
But when they got home nothing changed
Her mother beat her mercilessly, calling 
her a witch 
over and over again
Sometimes she was left without food and 
water for days
She cried and wished she would die
When she was eight years old
Her elder brother told her the truth
He said "That woman you call mummy is not 
your mother
She is our stepmother!
Our mother and father had a bitter fight
Our Father threw our mother out of the house
Our mother placed a curse on our father that if 
he married a million women he would never father 
another child
Our Father had gone everywhere to revoke the curse
The herbalists, seers, and spiritualists our 
father met with
told our Father you are a witch! 
They told him that our mother had poured 
her witchcraft in you and you are the monitoring 
spirit watching over the curse
and ensuring that it is fulfilled!
This was why they took to that man who claimed 
he could exorcise the witchcraft from you
That was why they were always maltreating you!
Our stepmother couldn't conceive and she believes 
it is your fault!"
Suddenly she understood
The reason why other children in the compound 
won't play with her
The reason she was always treated with malice 
and venom
She was a witch!
But witches were supposed to have special powers
Witches were supposed to be able to manipulate 
spiritual realities
Witches were supposed to be able to afflict people
She couldn't do such!
She was just a little girl suffering as a result of 
the delusion others! 
The more the efforts of her stepmother to 
conceive failed
The more hell was unleashed on her
She was broom whipped so much that a point 
she started saying
"I will tell my fellow witches to kill all you! 
I will tell my mother you 
were maltreating me when I get to the witchcraft 
meeting"
At that point, the beating would stop!
Her stepmother would scream all over the 
neighborhood,
"So and so, has confessed to witchcraft with 
her own mouth
She was even issuing threats!
She was the one that blocked my womb
She made me a barren woman!
What sort of accursed family did I marry into?
If I end up dead, she was the one that killed me!"
The whole community will gather and watch the show!
Her stepmother turned her ire on her father
At the age of ten, her father took her away from home
Her Father enrolled her in a boarding school!
The school was very good for her
The stigma of witchcraft didn't follow her there
She was able to be a child again, free of abuse
But it didn't last!
Her mother showed up in her school one weekend
with provisions
(She was two years old when her mother left)
She didn't know her mother!
Her elder brother, who was enrolled in the same
 with her came to call her in the hostel that 
their mother wantedto see her
She happily dropped everything and ran to the 
visitor's lounge
To her chagrin, her mother also treated her 
like a witch
She knew the reaction, the look of suspicion and 
hatred!
From the moment her mother set her eyes on her, that
was what she saw!
Her Father and Mother were from the same community
The community was a very small one
News spread fast in the community
But it was said that her mother gave her the witchcraft
if anybody was supposed to be free with her
It should be her own mother!
Her world sank that day!
She had always fantasized that one day, her mother 
would comeand take her away from the suffering!
Her mother was a prophetess in a white garment church
If anybody would know if she was a witch or not
it should be her mother!
She was not a witch and yet!
When her Father and stepmother heard that her mother
came to see herself and her brother in school
They panicked!
Someone told them her mother came to add more feathers
to her witchcraft cap!
As soon as they vacated from school that term
Her father and stepmother took her to Ogere-Remo
The church of the most prominent prophet of a 
white garment church
She was thrown into a room upstairs
Locked in, without food and water for seven days!
It was hell!
The prophet assured her parents that the power 
she received
shall be rendered useless by the Malaika's staying 
in the room she was thrown in!
On the third day, after hours of crying, she
 remembered her
Bible Knowledge teacher's instructions
(Her family was a non-christian family
She was supposed to study the other religious 
knowledge
the school was offering but it was too complicated
She opted to the Bible Study because of the stories!
It also helped her understanding of the English language
and she didn't have to learn another foreign language)
Her Bible Knowledge teacher said "If you call on Jesus
anywhere and at any time, he will answer you"
So she said "The Jesus that my Bible Knowledge teacher
talked about, please help me!"
A few minutes later, a ray of light flowed into the room 
through the window
An angel appeared to her and said
"Take the safety pin from your school uniform, 
use it to open the door and go home!"
She did it!
The metal door opened and she walked out!
The church had a very big compound and there were lots 
of people around the main church and the building she was
locked in!
None of them saw her as she left the church and 
started walking home!
The journey from the church to her father's house was 
about one hour drive
But because she was so weak and hungry, it took
her almost eight hours to walk home
When she got home, her elder brother was outside 
the compound
As soon as he saw her, he ran!
Apparently, the prophet that locked her up got to 
her father's house before her and told everybody
that she had grown in power and had walked through 
walls to get out of a tightly locked room!
Everybody got scared of her!
How could a twelve-year-old walk out of a locked room?
The funny thing was, the Prophet still had the keys and
the door was locked from the outside!
She apparently walked out through the door
or the door locked itself by itself after she left
She argued!
Told them she used the safety pin on her uniform to open
the door!
Her Father put her in the car and drove her back to 
the church
He told the prophet to lock her back into the room and
instructed her to open the door with the pin as she 
did the first time
She tried but this time the door refused to open!
The prophet told her parents that with the level of power
she had attained in witchcraft, whoever accommodated
her would be in a deep calamity within a year!
She was twelve years old!
Her parents threw her on the street
Nobody wanted anything to do with her
Her paternal grandmother gave her some food and money
and prayed for her (In secret) and told her 
"God be with you till we meet or if we ever 
meet again"
That was how she became a street girl
She traveled to Lagos Island and became a porter in 
the market
She slept in motor parks, market stalls, and odd places
Eventually, she met a woman who took her in as a 
housemaid
The woman's younger brother started sleeping with her 
when she turned fourteen
It was rape at first but later it became a normal thing
By the time she was eighteen, she already had 
three children
The woman and her brother subjected her to all 
forms of abuse
But she wanted to have a family
Someone, she can call her own, a home 
She endured it until he injured her terribly
She was rushed to the hospital and abandoned there
A prominent pastor met her there and paid her 
hospital bills
When the pastor heard her story, she rented an 
apartment for her and set her up in business
She was also able to keep her children
Finally, she thought, I got the break I have 
always prayed for!
She was put through catering school
A year after she met the pastor, the pastor died 
in a plane crash
The pastor was a popular relationship and marriage
minister
She died way too soon!
The death of the pastor plunged her into another 
level of darkness
The pastor had promised to set her up in the 
catering business
She couldn't pay the rent of the apartment and 
cater for the children
The father of her children and his sister took 
the children away
She had no objection
All she knew was, she wouldn't subject herself 
to his abuse again!
She started roaming the streets doing odd jobs
Eventually, she saw some prostitutes and decided 
to join them
They were making money and their lives were way 
better than hers
She joined them at the age of 20
She learnt the ropes and worked for a few months
One night, outside a club, a man parked right in 
front of her
The man told her who he was
The man gave her an envelope with some money
The man made her promise not to go to a party she 
and her friends
were planning to attend
She promised the man she would come and see him 
in his office
As soon as the man's car drove off
She went into the club
She didn't tell any of her fellow sex workers 
about the man
She was in the mood to work!
They left the club around 11 PM
They got to Lekki at 11:32pm
Her friends came down from the bus
There were eight of them!
It was at that point that she suddenly felt the 
rush of her period!
What!
She told her friends to go ahead
Her period had always been irregular but with 
so much pain
She sat in the bus with the driver
Gritting her teeth and groaning in pain
Sometime during the night, she slept off
She woke up later at about 4 AM and wondered why
everywhere was so quiet
She drifted back to sleep
By 7 AM the driver woke her up and asked her 
to go andget her friends from the house
They had hired the bus and promised the driver 
that they would be
ready to return to the mainland by 6 AM
The street was weirdly deserted
The previous night, there were all sorts of 
flashy cars parked
on both sides of the road close to the house
She knocked on the gate
The gateman opened
She asked for her friends
The gateman said she was at the wrong house
She reminded the gateman about the party of the 
previous night
The gateman said the owner of the house lives abroad 
and that there
was no party held in the mansion
She got confused!
She checked other buildings to be sure
By 10 AM they left Lekki
She never saw her friends again
She got the message!
The following Sunday, she went to the address the 
man in the flashy car gave her
It was a church!
The man was a pastor
She saw the man after the service and told him 
her ordeal
The man told her the Holy Spirit told him to 
caution her 
from going to the party
She joined the man's church
The church helped as much as they could to resettle her '
She started the catering business she longed for
One day, she met the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
A friend gave her his contact
She told him her story
He spoke to her about the essentials of the 
supernatural
He told her she was not a witch!
There are a lot of people in this world who are 
categorized as odd
by those who understood spiritual things
Spiritual science is not definite
A prophet and a wizard both walk in the 
supernatural
Moses and Balaam were both walking in the 
supernatural
While the former walked with God and did well
The other walked with "the knowledge" and 
ended badly
Many people who have spiritual substance 
were thrown 
to the devil and branded as witches because 
those who were
trying to peep at their future spiritually 
sensed that there was 
something different about them!
"You have to live your life for Jesus
Allow Jesus to take full use of the assets 
He deposited in you
from eternity" He said
She agreed and wholeheartedly gave her life 
to Christ
He laid hands on her and kindled in her the 
fire of the Holy Spirit
He told her she shall be fully restored 
spiritually
He promised her that as soon as she gained 
spiritual mastery
material, economic and other goodies would come to her
She believed him
She began to seek the fellowship of the Holy Spirit more
She grew very quickly
The stigma of witchcraft was taken away by Jesus
She began to walk in spiritual realities as led 
by the Holy Spirit!
And within a year, everything turned!
Her Father came looking for her
He was old and frail, but he came asking for 
forgiveness!
Her stepmother had died of a terrible ailment
Before she died she confessed on her death bed 
that she was a witch
She had found “his daughter” too spiritually 
powerful to contend with in the house and 
decided to manipulate 
things in a way that she gave her the room to 
drive her away from home!
After driving his daughter away from home, 
she was able 
to destroy his business and deal with his 
family members
Eight of his family members lost their lives 
due to the evil 
her stepmother perpetrated!
He had been told to look for her and ask for 
her forgiveness 
so that he can enjoy the rest of his life in peace
She forgave him!
Her mother also came around!
She had remarried and given birth to five 
other children
They all came to her to say “Sorry”
Like Joseph, she was gracious and forgiving
In 2016, at the age of 33, she got married again
The Lord blessed her with two children
A boy (5 years old) and a girl (One-year-old)!

Ps: You meet some people and you can practically 
see a halo over their heads
They belong to the Lord
He watches over them
He has a special use for them
Such people are not rare
They are all around us!
Let us beware of all these so-called “prophets”
Who can diagnose problems (by lying and telling 
you sweet stories *lying revelations) but 
never offering a Solution!”
Some of us have become “What did the Lord 
day about me”
 Christians!
Are you deaf?
Can you not talk to God with your own mouth 
and open your 
heart to heart him?
Some of us make prophets say “stuff” to us 
by filling their 
heads with spiritual histories we have gathered!
Encouraging them so say “God says” when God has 
not spoken!
Beware of anybody a prophet label as a witch!
A true prophet will lay hands on a witch and 
deliver such 
from witchcraft not brand him or her and leave 
him or her 
as he or she is!
There is this myth about people who are possessed 
that unless they want to leave the cult they 
belong to you cannot deliver them!
It is a lie!
Believers may not have authority over the will of 
human beings but we have authority over spirits! 
The spirit of witchcraft must flee in the presence 
of the Holy Spirit! 
The spirit of witchcraft must tremble and flee 
in your presence!