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Izy OKU
4 weeks ago
Overview
The Unbelievable Story Of Jesu Oyingbo, Lagos Self-Proclaimed Messiah
In the religious history of Lagos and perhaps the whole of Nigeria, few names provoke as much intrigue, controversy, and disbelief as that of Olufunmilayo Immanuel Odumosu, better known as Jesu Oyingbo.
Born in Ijebu-Ode, in present-day Ogun State, Odumosu would grow from an ordinary carpenter’s apprentice into one of the most notorious self-proclaimed messiahs in Nigerian history, a man who, in June 1959, declared himself to be Jesus Christ returned to Earth.
His proclamation was dramatic and absolute:
“I am He. I am Jesus Christ, the very one whose second coming was foretold in the New Testament. I have come, and those who believe in me will have everlasting life and joy. I am the missing part of the trinity. I have come to prepare the faithful for judgment day.”
This declaration made when Odumosu was about 43 years old sent shockwaves through Lagos society. Many laughed it off as madness, but others embraced it as divine truth. Those who believed sold their properties, abandoned their families, and moved into his communal enclave to await salvation.
Born in 1915 to an Egba family in Ijebu-Ode, present-day Ogun State, he was the grandson of Joseph Odumosu, a famed traditional healer whose old herbal manuscripts: Iwe Iwosan, Iwe Egbogi, Iwe Isoji, and Iwe Ala would later be whispered about as sources of secret power.
After completing primary school, Odumosu apprenticed as a carpenter under his uncle, Pa Odubela, who took him to Lagos. In Lagos he worked briefly at the Post and Telecommunications Department (P&T) of the Ministry of Communications, before starting his own carpentry shed at Oil Mill Street. This became the turning point of his life.
Deep in debt and, by his own account, jailed for six months, he turned towards an intense spirituality. He began attending Protestant churches and, after each day’s work, he started holding Bible study sessions with curious listeners under a tree after work, an informal gathering of about thirty people that grew into his first congregation.
https://www.nairaland.com/8499841/unbelievable-story-jesu-oyingbo-lagos
