Pastor Phillip Osung, the Akwa Ibom State-born general overseer of Born Free Int’l Ministry, has taken a swipe at both the Nigerian church and political leadership, alleging that they have handed over Nigerian governance to Freemasons, especially in Akwa Ibom state. In the no-holds-barred interview below with Christian Benefits magazine regarding the state of the Nigerian church and governance, the fiery preacher, who claims he has escaped multiple assassination attempts and threats on his life over his commentaries about the Nigerian government and his prophecies, also says Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), a former Federal Minister of Justice of Nigeria, is not being held by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for corruption charges alone, but also for certain classified government documents he claims are in the possession of the erstwhile Nigerian justice minister, which Osung says would save Nigeria. Excerpts.
How will you relate the events happening in the Nigerian church today to the scriptures?
The fathers have dined with the devil leaving the consequences and punishments to the generation after them. In today’s Nigeria, if the devil wants to rule the country, he won’t do it without the support of some church leaders. The devil will use the fathers of faith to win the election. It is a pattern that has happened over and over again. There seems to be a fraternity, and at the end, leaders of these churches are always settled.
How do we address the issue of fathers who have sold out and now causing the children suffering for their deeds
It has always been there from biblical days but has become as alarming as it is in our days. What we have today is borne of greed. The fathers of faith today, especially in Nigeria, are full of greed. They are hypocritical, tribalistic, denominational, partisan, and political in nature. These people have more than enough profit from the many dirty works they have done. Some of them help politicians launder money, but many of these things won’t come up in the news.
How do you feel whenever you read moral misconduct of Church leaders on social media?
I sincerely feel disappointed. After what happened in Akwa Ibom three years ago, watching men of God enthroned evil and killed their family members just to get a seat hurt my faith, and I went silent. I did so because I don’t want to lose my salvation. I acknowledge that we live in a world that will continuously find faults, but when people commit alarming atrocities and swim in the ocean of evil with clear evidence, it weakens the faith of the younger generations.
How did the Church in Nigeria get it wrong in moral uprightness today?
First, how did we get it wrong with the younger ministers in Nigeria? The likes of the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa in the past did excellent jobs, but the people coming after them only show people manipulations. Whatever is done by one generation will be amplified by the next. They perform fake miracles, manipulate people, and feel smart. They have absolutely nothing to hand over to the next generation. It is necessary to understand the place of leadership and role modeling. But if all of the gimmicks and political manipulation is what we see, what would be handed over? The past fathers of faith handed over fire, but today, there is nothing to hand over from today’s fathers of faith other than gimmicks, immorality, covetousness, greed, manipulations and reckless compromise of the Christian faith and values. They have destroyed the essence of Christianity, and I cry and bleed painfully. Sometimes I sit alone for several hours just to pray. I am tired of what the manipulators have turned Christianity into. I don’t like naming people for criticism but bleed knowing they failed us and the next generation.
What’s your take on the Pastor Chris Okafor and Rev. Mathew Ashimolowo negative commentaries on social media?
My take is different. I believe ministry has become a stage for mafianism. People launder money, and when they know that the money is illegal, they try to establish a legal face. They start setting up clubs, building hotels, and going into lucrative businesses. People are also into drugs, which is illegal, yet they try to come up with something legal out of it to cover up the things they have done behind the scenes. The problem of Christianity today started with the generation of fathers of faith who messed up their integrity to legalize their illegalities. The fathers still have to be very careful about the kind of people they allow into their circle.
What raises the alarms of vices and moracl misconducts of some questionable characters on the puplits as pastors?
The fathers of faith are advocating for evil. The younger ones are permitted to misbehave under the guidance and support of respected fathers of faith. As a consequence, it would be so hard to find a genuine pastor in subsequent times, because it has become a reality for many things to be faked.
Can’t the government control, investigate and punish pastors and churches convicted of improper moral misconducts?
It is impossible for the government to control the Church. The government functions on the shoulders of the Church. The Church is the one to control the government, but it has lost its place.
How then can churches and pastors in Nigeria be regulated or checked of ungodly misconducts?
The body that should have been in charge of regulating the church has become a political institution. Most of these people are those who fraternize with the government.
What informed your temporary and unusual silence on the Nigerian governmental matters for some time now?
There once was a voice in the wilderness crying, but the voice was preparing a way for the Lord. However, within a nation’s system, there can’t be one voice crying for the nation; it will be silenced. I’ve been shot at several times. I’ve escaped over 10 different assassination attempts on my life for speaking against and criticizing the government and for giving prophecies of things that will happen. In October 2020, I sent prophecies to Mallam Abubakar Malami, then Federal Minister of Justice of Nigeria about a coming military attack on protesters that would go wrong. His response was that I was looking for trouble. I sent a personal message to him directly. In Nigeria, when you give prophecies, the government will rise up against you because the elders are fraternizing with the government. It then takes extra efforts to speak up as a son.
What’s your opinion about your fellow Christian brother; Governor of Akwa Ibom, as a pastor governing your state?
The moment anyone sells their soul to the devil, they are no longer my brother. It’s so sad and unfortunate too that my state, Akwa Ibom state is being governed by Freemasons.When there was a power tussle, I was certain there was an ultimate sacrifice to pay. I saw a vision where sacrifices were being offered, but my wife, who I confided in, didn’t believe it until different concerned people started dying. I didn’t want to speak openly about it because I was already facing several security threats. In the end, God used their daughter to expose them. So, I don’t have as fellow Christian brother and pastor as governor in Akwa Ibom state.
Have you made any attempt at reaching out to him and advising him?
You don’t advise a devil. if the devil could be advised, God would have advised Satan.
What went wrong with the election of the man you gave the prophecy that he would be elected the governor of Akwa state in that last gubernatorial electionthat produced the current governor of the state?
God can choose you and still reject you. He chose Saul but rejected him because of his disobedience. God told me thethen governor of the state would do anything to put someone in power unless another person rose up against it. Then I decided to stand in for the senator about whom I had received a prophecy would be the next governor of Akwa Ibom state. I gave him directions on what to do but asked for a day to pray with him. I fasted and prayed for him, but thereafter when I tried to reach him several times, he refused to answer my calls. The following week, he was in prison. Before his court case, I told him the Lord instructed me to have a word of prayer with him, which we had. I told him the arrangements of God concerning the court case. When he stopped picking my calls, I called the archbishop of the state to tell him about the visions I had seen because visions are time-bound. When the period of acceptance and direction of God was over, I stepped back. Then he started calling me when it was already too late.
At what point did Freemasons take over the governance of Akwa Ibom state?
Freemasons took over the governance of Akwa Ibom state at the time of the former Governor God’swill Akpabio due to excessive quests for power. When God’swill Akpabio became the governor, cultism took over the state. The day they were coming to establish the occult kingdom, I was the only pastor who saw it. I tried to fight against it but had to withdraw when I received advice from some of my colleagues.
How can Akwa Ibom be entrenched in occultism where they have powerful pastors in the state like the recently late Rev. Umai Ukpai, Dr. Abel Damina and Bishop Emma Isong among others?
Having powerful pastors is not the issue. It is whether the pastors are willing to compromise with them. Barak instigated Balam to curse the children of Israel because they needed a greater voice. That is what happens when we have pastors in government houses collecting money. When you’re done fraternizing with them, you can’t rebuke them. If we had put our feet together on the ground to make sure it didn’t dominate the state, it wouldn’t have.
How can Freemasons be dislodged from the governance of Akwa Ibom state?
It is very simple, but we would need an agreement from multiple pastors. Although it is one thing to know what to do, it is another thing to be willing to do it. I have been fighting a battle for Nigeria since 2015. I had to run out of Lagos in 2017 when I was being monitored. My cars were shot at. In 2020, I was privileged to carry out an assignment for the late President Muhammadu Buhari to turn Nigeria around, but they brought in their regular greed, religion, and extremism to it. I tried to sanitize the system. It is still ongoing. Many lives have died for the birth of a new Nigeria. God told me some months ago that more lives will still go. When Buhari died, God told me the grave was opened for two. Mr. Abubakar Malami, (SAN), is not in the EFCC custody only for corruption charges but because of some goverNment classified documents in his possession that the current government is searching for, which unfortunately the goverment will never find.
According to you prophecy some years back, is it still God’s plan for Pastor Sam Adeyemi to rule Nigeria someday?
You can be chosen by God and pull yourself away. God wanted to use Pastor Sam Adeyemi to lead Nigeria aright, but he has a problem with fear. He ran out of Nigeria in fear because of threatening issues. If we all run away, who will save Nigeria? But Nigeria will be saved. Abubakar Malami knows that the process for Nigeria’s salvation is the reason he is in the custody of the EFCC. He’s corrupt, but that’s not the main reason for putting him there. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu knows that what they’re seeking from Malami will save Nigeria. Unfortunately none of them in the current goverment is willing to play by the rule of God, and I sit back, laughing because in the near future, any of them that will submit to the rule of God will save Nigeria.
How will you assess the performance of the current government of Nigeria so far?
I will never be among people that call black, white and white, black. There is no performance. The current government has only brought so much evil upon the people. The price of every basic item and essential commodity in the Nigeria markets is being increased under the current government. The only system the President is building while in office is the system of family and cabals, and they’re doing very well in that area but are not saving Nigeria.
What’s your take on the US-VISA restriction for Nigerians?
It is good for them (government officials) because all the crimes they commit happen when they run out of the country. People are buying houses abroad and stashing them up with money. However, no matter who starts something, when the effects or consequences of a thing want to come, they come upon almost everyone around who are just victims of circumstances. If the US changes the entire situation to favor the poor masses, the government will become poor for it.
Nigeria was labeled a country of a particular concern by the US government over the alleged Christian genocide in the country. How true is the issue of Christian genocide in Nigeria?
It is very true, and they know what they are doing. There’s been a move to Islamize Nigeria. I have a pain in my heart against all the apostles and prophets of fire because I don’t know if they know the gravity of these things. However, I can’t exactly tell what they feel about it. In 2021, the highest ranked Imam in Islam, who resides in Saudi Arabia, was in Nigeria. He stayed for about a week. There was a mission they were planning to carry out, but I put my feet on the ground at the time to make sure the mission was frustrated. The rise of Christian genocide is an attempt to Islamize the country.
Do you support the move of the US to intervene in the alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria?
I am not in support or against it. I will just be neutral because I’ve come to realize there are battles that belong to God. In the days of the Bible, the gospel spread out as a result of the Christian genocide (persecution). Christianity spreads better in moments of affliction. It won’t be possible to Islamize Nigeria.