Running Scared

We were in Berger hostel when it 
happened 
Right next to our room was the common 
room 
Sometimes some seriously Born Again 
brothers would go into the common room 
to hold personal prayers or retreats, 
especially when the room is empty and 
they don't want to disturb their roommates
This particular night, a brother named Fisoye 
went into the common room to pray 
As he was praying in tongues, a Business 
Administration student also sneaked into 
the common room to pray 
This was not unusual 
We were getting close to the examination 
season and a lot of students
with poor CGPA's go spiritual at this time 
It is not unusual to see guys who have 
been dodging prayers and fellowship come 
into the common room and fill out 
fellowship venues in search of divine help 
Suddenly there was an unusual noise 
in the common room 
Somebody was screaming
"Blood of Isther" over and over 
The common room was next door to 
my room 
I stepped out of my room into the 
common room 
Fisoye was in his "Prayer agbada" 
(He is one of those guys who would 
wear a particular piece of clothing while 
praying and after a period will come to 
believe that the piece of clothing had 
become anointed)
The other guy was stumbling all over 
like a drunk 
He would stand up, scream 
"Blood of Ishter", stumble here and 
there like a drunk and then fall flat 
on his face 
Then he would stand up again and 
repeat the process 
Fisoye didn't get what was going on 
He could sense that the young man's 
behaviour was not normal but what 
to do? 
I was equally ignorant of what to do 
I had never handled such a case 
before 
I was sure the young man 
was demon-possessed because at a 
point he started saying some things 
relating to oat covenant and darkness 
Fisoye looked at me for guidance I 
turned my back and left 
Fisoye left too 
We left the young there hoping 
whatever was wrong with him would 
lift after a while 
That night, i made sure i locked my room 
before i slept 
Nobody can predict what a guy like 
that could do
When it was morning, I went straight to 
Brother Rotimi's room 
Brother Rotimi was the BSF president he 
was studying Computer Science 
He had told us in the course of his many 
sermons that he had the ability to deal 
with unclean spirits 
We wanted him to come to our hostel 
and help us
He said okay but we have to track down 
the guy and bring him over to his room 
I went to class 
Later that evening, i had my dinner at 
the school area and took a bus to the 
hostel around 7pm 
There was a group led by Olamide Sotonode 
(Now the Pastor The Threshold International
Christian Centre) on the field beside the 
cafeteria in front of the male hostel 
The group meets to pray in the spirit 
once a week 
They were praying on the field when this 
young man walked up to them 
Within a minute he started manifesting 
again 
Shouting "Blood of Ishter" and rolling in 
one spot like a ceiling fan 
He caused so much commotion that evening 
Many of the young believers who were 
praying had never seen anything like that 
before and they got distracted to the point 
of watching his dramatic performance 
Some got scared and left 
By this time this guy was hopping like
a toad and somersaulting like a monkey 
Unfortunately, my bus arrived at that time 
As soon some people saw me, they 
believed that had seen the solution to 
the problem but even though i had 
read the scriptures many times about 
Jesus casting out demons and the 
apostles doing likewise it was all head 
knowledge to me 
I had been in ministrations and even 
ministered several times that people 
with demonic spirits manifested and 
were delivered but I had never done 
it on a one on one basis before and 
I had no idea how 
I tried to dodge but shame wouldn't 
let me
I was a fellowship leader and people 
were looking at me so expectantly 
Our chaplain's house was located in 
front of our hostel 
He had been to seminary and all 
He preaches very well and must have 
had some experience dealing with 
such things 
I went to knock on his door and reported
the issue 
He came out confidently and walked 
to the sports field 
I walked confidently behind him, like 
the armor-bearer of Goliath 
We got to this guy who by this time was 
slithering on the field like a snake and 
speaking of strange darkness and 
blood-sucking exploits of his group
The reverend got to him and said 
"In JESUS NAME"
 This boy looked squarely at the 
Reverend and said "You, you dare 
come here to confront me? 
You that lied this afternoon when 
you were having a meeting with the VC? 
Do you think I didn't see you? 
I saw you? 
You have no power here Mr!"
What happened next always made me 
laugh my heart out 
I am still laughing as i type this 
The chaplain went on his knees and said 
"If i have lied today or committed any sin, 
I ask God for forgiveness right now in 
your presence, 
I know the God i serve is a loving and 
forgiving God"
Then the Reverend got on his feet and 
returned to his house 
Perhaps because some students saw 
what happened and laughed or perhaps 
because he didn't also know what to do...
I really cannot explain why he walked 
away like that! 
We all left the guy on the field after 
that, we had somehow convinced 
ourselves he had a mental problem 
and it was a medical thing! 
The school authority reached out 
to his parents, his mother arrived on 
campus the next morning, by this 
time he was totally back to normal 
He showed no sign of any mental 
or spiritual affliction. 
His mother left 
We had hoped he would be taken 
home and taken care of, as soon as 
i saw him walk back into the hostel 
that afternoon, I took off to Brother 
Rotimi's room 
I told him i was not comfortable with 
the idea of the guy being left to 
terrorize the students in my hostel, I
felt he should at least protest to the 
school authority to send the guy 
home as leaving him in the midst of 
normal students would mean exposing 
us to danger 
Truth be told, I was scared 
I kept imagining him stabbing somebody 
to death or jumping off the railings of the 
third storey of my hostel 
Brother Rotimi laughed and said "I will 
come and sleep in your hostel tonight, 
if he manifests, I will take care of it" 
Brother Rotimi came to spend the night 
in our hostel, nothing happened. 
We woke up the next morning, something 
had happened in Brother Rotimi's
hostel 
A guy had started manifesting like this guy 
The guy was studying physics and upon 
investigation, it was discovered that the 
guy was the immediate elder brother of 
the one who had been pulling stunts at 
Berger hostel 
Rotimi had no option but to call the chaplain 
and draw the attention of the school 
authority to the matter 
Their mother came to school that same day 
to see the second son 
She spent almost three hours with the 
two of them 
This time they went to the campus clinic 
to do some check-ups 
Again the children were declared 
perfectly healthy
Around midnight, that same day, the one 
my hostel started howling like a wolf 
and screaming "Blood of Isther" 
The next thing I know, somebody was 
knocking on my door 
It was the porter 
He brought the boy to sleep in my room 
because his roommates had pushed 
him out 
I was terrified...
My roommates moved to one corner of 
the room as far away from us as they can 
Nobody slept that night 
I was scared whatever he had would 
jump on me or he would go berserk 
and cause any us bodily harm
He slept on the lower bunk, while i
slept right on the bunk above him
As soon as he walked into our room
He calmed down and promptly
slept off
My roommates were petrified but I
was a fellowship leader and the only
one considered spiritual enough to
accommodate him
The next morning, he woke up normally
had his bath and went to class
I went to class too
Later in the afternoon, i got a call from
Femi Agbaje, one of my roommates
He was with the others at the BSF
secretariat
They had met and decided they wouldn't
come to the room if the guy was 
going to be sleeping there that night
They needed to be at rest to prepare
for their examinations
I went to Brother Rotimi Again, this
time I went with my roommates
Brother Rotimi said "You are full of
the Holy Spirit, a demon cannot come
into you. Secondly, If as a believer you
cannot help him, where do you want
him to find help?"
We didn't know at the time that some
of the fellowship leaders in the hostel
had started reporting strange 
dreams, prophesies, manifestations and
so on too
An air of suspicion took over the campus
The problem with evil, when it is not
dealt with promptly was that it promotes
fear and encourages the imagination to
birth all sorts of strange things
The story of these brothers had gone all
over and that was what everyone was
talking about
As a result, nightmares and evil dreams
took over the imagination
Reports of people walking through walls,
ladies with horns on their heads,
a set of ladies with white stone cult
and so on took over
Our ineptitude had unleashed fear in the
heart of many
Around 7pm that day, The fellowship
announced an impromptu vigil
I was the Programmes Coordinator
for the fellowship but i was not included
in the decision making for the vigil
I had proven myself to be carnal and
unspiritual by my conduct
I understand the decision
The vigil was held on Friday
We prayed in tongues all-day 
(Mostly out of fear because this guy
and his brother were in our room from
friday morning until we set out for the
New Lecture Theatre at 10pm for the
vigil
The choir sang, somebody preached,
those who needed "deliverance were
invited"
The team to pray for them were invited
to the altar
Brother Rotimi, Sister Bimpe Ajayi, Sister
Titilayo, and two other Brothers stepped
on the podium
I was supposed to be up there with them
and so was Fisoye and Gbenga Afolabi
(My roommates and born again brothers)
We didn't make the cut for obvious reasons
The ministration started
The guy stood in front of Bimpe Ajayi, he 
wanted to start his drama again
Bimpe was nineteen years old at the time
I was asking the girl out (Codedly and she
was still praying about me "codedly" too)
She was the executive in charge of
discipleship and training (from Follow 
the Master up until the last stage)
She said "Get out" (Only once)
The guy shrieked and fell backward
He laid there for a long time while she
and the team attended to other cases
Brother Rotimi prayed for this guy's
brother
It lasted about five minutes in all
Reverend (The one that was 
accused of lying was there too,
watching and observing like the rest
of us)
A lot of people, fellow students were
set free that day
When the two brothers got back on their
feet, they were crying
They had been set free from that malady
in the name of Jesus
A lot of people gave their lives to Christ
that day
The brothers were the very first
And we all went back to the Hostel under
a new atmosphere of freedom and liberty
The news also rang all over the campus
that the name of Jesus is potent and
powerful
The narrative changed from the drama
of the possessed to the exploits of Bimpe,
Rotimi and the other ministers who did
what Jesus instructed us to do: Cast out
devils!
The dreams and imaginations of the 
students became normal and the air of
suspicion and accusation was cleared
I learned a very vital lesson from that
experience
The possessed is a victim, not someone
to be treated with suspicion and 
stigmatized
I am a child of God but I reacted like
any unbeliever would do
I didn't even try to cast out that thing
I just complained and griped and
allowed myself to be consumed by
fear
I was anointed but I lacked knowledge

This event happened in 2007/2008 at 
Bowen University
I met one of the brothers in 2013
He was an evangelist and was walking
in the power of the Holy Spirit
He had a lot of passion and zeal
I understood his drive
Demonic affliction is a wicked thing 
and a believer does not want to see it at
work in another human being
If we will be true disciples of Christ,
we should be the place of refuge for
the oppressed and the afflicted
GSW's Notes: I have tried my best
to do better than i did in 2007
We are all growing
Don't feel terrible if you dropped
the ball or froze up in fear too
Some of us are slow learners
Stay consistent with your fellowship
with the Word and the Holy Spirit
Exercise your authority in Christ
with confidence
Do not give the devil a foothold
Do not allow news and talks of
demonic manifestations and or
evil deeds that corrupt the imagination
take over the atmosphere of your
home or environment
Be strong in the Lord and in the
power of His might
Set out this week with a determination
to be an ambassador of Christ
Dare to do the impossible in the
name of Jesus
You are no longer ordinary
Embrace your new nature and Christ
and grow in it
The Supernatural is your habitat now
This is specially written to encourage
the Students of PSSBC School 5 as
they move into their practical week
Come back with a humongous harvest
in Jesus name
I love you guys.