The Blackmail

It was a battle of the realms
Unfortunately, her mother didn't belong to the right realm
Her mother was a human being
With normal human fears and woes
Her mother went to church because that was how she was raised
She knew church doctrine and a little bit of scripture
She fell on her knees and prayed as soon as she woke up every morning
After praying she would recite Psalm 23 and The Lord's prayer
Every night before she slept she would pray and recite Psalm 91
Her mother was a nurse
She worked at the family planning unit of a big hospital
That was where she met her Father
Her father was into medical equipment supplies
He owned his own company and seemed to be heading in the right direction
They started going to cinemas and clubs together
Her Father was also a Christian
His church had a very similar colouring to that of her mother
Both parents loved and approved of the union
They had a church wedding
Few months after the wedding something good happened
An international pharmacological company reached out to her Father
The company wanted to expand their business into their company
They would like to leverage on her Father's experience and established relationships in the industry
Her Father became the Marketing head of their operations in the country
Money rolled in
Her Father was not exactly struggling before this development
But he shot into the big leagues right after
They moved from a three bedroom rented apartment to a mansion her father bought in a very popular estate
Because of the nature of his job
Her father travelled a lot
Opening branches for the company in other states and recruiting staff members for them
Her mother had her just about this time
When her parent's marriage was about six years old
Her mother had a very scary dream
She ran to her aunt who was like a mother to her
Her aunt ran to some local priest somewhere
The local priest told her aunt the news
Her aunt ran to her mother
"Your husband has another woman somewhere, the lady is hurling missiles at you"
Her mother believed her aunt
She had suspected her husband's infidelity for a while
She knew all the signs
(Her own mother was an unfaithful woman in her marriage
While she was growing up she unconsciously came to recognize the signs
The strange perfumes on her mother on some days
The slip of tongue when her mother was talking excitedly with some of her friends
The coded look and language
The "If you tell" look her mother gave her sometimes when her father was around
Her father was a truck driver who travelled a lot
This was the loophole her mother exploited to sleep around
None of the children dare speak, even those who were old enough to know what was going on
By the time her mother died at the age of 61
None of her four children wanted anything to do with her)
The memory of her mother's unfaithful lifestyle ruined her mother's relationship with her children
The best they all did was send her mother money once in a while
Nobody wanted her mother to come around their homes and families
Their father had died in a car crash long before any of them got married
The lesson she learnt from her mother's life is not to be like her mother
She closed her legs until she got married
She kept away from ladies who talk loosely about their husbands
She was determined to love her husband and keep her family
But then her husband started straying
She talked to him about it
He saw reason with her
But he was always on the road and lacks the discipline to keep himself
He told her as much and promised her he would try as much as possible to desist
She didn't envisage that he could ever have a family somewhere
When her husband returned home, he was just looking at her
He didn't say a word, he was sweating profusely and looking like a zombie
She thought he was pretending at first
He couldn't eat, he couldn't sleep, he was just looking
The driver that drove him home said he didn't say a word all through their journey home
It was as if he had been hypnotized
Her mother ran to her aunty again
Something has happened to my husband!
The local priest told them that the missile that was meant
for her mother was diverted because of the sacrifice her aunt made on her mother's behalf
The missile had hit her father full throttle
They asked the local priest what can be done
He went to consult his demons
He returned with his conditions
1)There was a lady who had an affair with her husband, the lady is an initiate and demands marriage
Her husband must marry the lady in question as a second wife
The lady was already pregnant and demands that her dowry
should be paid in full by the man's family members and the traditional wedding rites concluded
within the next two weeks otherwise the lady had sworn to destroy him and his entire household
2) A sacrifice must be made! The sacrifice will cost almost 500,000

Her mother left their father with the local priest and returned home
She called her husband's family members and explained the issue on ground
The family members decided they would do the wedding and whatever else to save their breadwinner
Her mother also told her three children
Your father is about to marry a certified witch and that means the end of life as we all know it!
Her elder brother quickly went to their father's room and got all the important documents,
He wanted to secure their mother's lot before it was too late but their mother refused
she said she didn't want to do anything that will draw the witch's ire to her children!
She couldn't believe it!
How could one witch have a whole family cornered like that!
A witch!
They had all been cowered and broken, nobody tried to resist
because they were scared the witch would kill their father
Her mother told them her plan
They would all wait until the wedding was done and her father's health restored
Then they would move out and leave the witch and her husband alone
Her mother: The only powerful helper I had was the local priest but from the way he spoke the other time,
He was scared of the witch and her powers and would rather work in concert with her!
Later that day, she thought about it
Was it that there is nobody, not one, who could prevent this certain disaster from happening?
She called her fellowship leader on campus
Sh told him what was going on
Her fellowship leader had an idea but she must sell it to her mother
She went to her mother and explained her plans
They have to get her Father out of the local priest's shrine
Take him somewhere and see if he can be healed
They have nothing to lose
He cannot die because the witch wanted to marry him
If he was set free, they would be able to call the witches bluff
Her mother and brothers agree
They went to the local priest's house very early the next morning
They got him and drove from their location all the way to the office of the brother in Jeans and T-shirt
They picked up the fellowship leader on the way
He had been calling the brother in Jeans and T-shirt for sometime
He had not picked their call
He had been to his office about six weeks before
They had prayed together
They got to his office just as he was parking his car
The fellowship leader hugged him and told him the problem
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt invited them into his office
He asked the family if they had given their lives to Christ
Only the daughter indicated that she had
He led their mother and the two sons to Christ
After praying, he told everybody to lay hands on the sick man
They commanded him to healed and the affiction to lift
The man did not respond, he just looked on like zombie
Suddenly the brother in Jeans and T-shirt laid hands on him and blew some air into his left ear
He started shaking violently
And GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR he vomited all sorts
Including many dry palm kernel seeds
The man started talking immediately, shouting for joy!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt led him to Christ!
They talked at length afterwards
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt explained to him that if he would walk with the Holy Spirit,
he would make better decisions henceforth
What about the witch? He asked!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told him not to be afraid, the witch was no longer a threat!
They returned home rejoicing
One week later, the witch lost the twelve weeks old pregnancy!

PS: This event happened at New Oko Oba area of Lagos State in February 2015
The man and his family have enjoyed the joy of salvation ever since
Their first son got married in 2017
The man is the Men's fellowship coordinator of the pentecostal church they now attend
Are you suffering from any affliction?
Stop running helter-skelter
Jesus is our burden bearer
Enter his rest today!